NEW YORK — Those who took the 7 train to the U.S. Open men’s singles final Sunday were treated to the usual chorus of languages spoken by passengers on the line through the borough of Queens: Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, to name a few. But one of the added joys during the tournament is hearing that chatter peppered with proper nouns from the tournament bracket: words like Djokovic, Federer or this year in particular, Williams.
The subway winds through one of the most ethnically diverse patches of America, if not the world, making it likely that any tennis player from one of the dozens of countries represented on the courts at Flushing Meadows will have at least one local fan at the U.S. Open, a claim not easily made at any other Grand Slam.
But for a sport that prides itself on being something of a United Nations, how is tennis still such a European affair at the top?
* * *
The women’s singles final on Saturday ended up being an Italian undertaking, Roberta Vinci of Italy having stunned top seeded American Serena Williams in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history and fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta ultimately winning the crown. In the men’s doubles, Americans Mike and Bob Bryan, the most successful doubles pairing of all time, lost in the first round and Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France ultimately won the title. And Martina Hingis of Switzerland, paired with Leander Paes and Sania Mirza of India to win Grand Slam titles in mixed and women’s doubles, respectively.
The men’s singles final historically has been the marquee event for the two-week tournament, a rare moment when New Yorkers, be they cab drivers or chief executives, will offer an opinion on the backhand of a Serbian prodigy or the serve of a Swiss savant. The delight this year was that the competition between the two best men in the world — Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Switzerland’s Roger Federer — at times felt like a footnote to the women’s competition, the sports version of the headlining band not being as good as the opener.
Still, fans poured off the trains and waited through a three-hour rain delay, the last to happen at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as the new roof will be completed by next year’s tournament. Eight Zamboni-like vehicles sucked up the moisture from the blue courts, helping conclude an era of the strange fusion of straw hats and black umbrellas. The fans, soggy, but not downtrodden, were boisterous as the two took to the court after 7 p.m.
“The crowd gets into it,” Djokovic said. “You interact with players, especially here in New York. Every Grand Slam has something unique about it. New York is about night session. You know, music, entertainment, crowd interaction. It’s part of the show. It’s part of what we do, and that’s why this tournament is so special.”
* * *
Is that enthusiasm translating to a meaningful global expansion of tennis? While court manufacturers and tennis racket and apparel companies will eagerly talk of their breaking into emerging markets like China, Brazil and India, the fact remains that elite tennis is still an extremely expensive proposition — $100,000 a year or so is not unreasonable for an elite junior player’s annual touring tab. The good news, however, is that as an individual sport, the lone talent can still pop through, if lucky enough. Paes and Mirza, both of India, won mixed and women’s doubles at the U.S. Open. Li Na of China is another emerging market superstar.
But Europe’s continued dominance in elite tennis is to be expected. The sport was a favorite among aristocrats, including Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France. Legend has it that Charles IX commissioned the first professional “tour” in the late 1500s. By the late 1800s, the sport had become a fixture on the lawns of Europe’s upper crust and made its way to the United States.
For the last decade, particularly in men’s tennis, European players continue to dominate: Federer, Djokovic, Rafa Nadal of Spain, Andy Murray of Great Britain, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, to name a few. No American male has won the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick did so in 2003. For American women, unless your last name is Williams, good luck cracking the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
Meanwhile Sunday night, the European aura extended to the stands. Sean Connery was in attendance, having arrived via luxury vehicle and been deposited at the player’s entrance on the underbelly of Arthur Ashe Stadium. David Beckham and Simon Fuller were there, too.
As Djokovic and Federer finally took to the court, Eva Asderaki-Moore of Greece made her own history on Sunday as the first female to serve as chair umpire of the men’s singles final at the Open. (A fellow Greek, Maria Sakkari, fared far worse having lost her first round match in women’s singles last week.)
In a characteristic slog, Djokovic quickly powered over Federer in the first set, 6-4. Federer fought back in the second, 5-7, even as Djokovic’s arm bled after falling on the court. “I knew he’s going to be aggressive,” Djokovic said. “[Federer] is going to try to disrupt my rhythm, and he’s going to put a lot of variety in his game. Slice, chip and charge, come to the net, serve and volley. Which he did. But I was ready for it. I was ready for the battle. That’s what it was. Three hours, 20 minutes. We pushed each other to the limit, as we always do.”
Djokovic regained his momentum and won the third and fourth sets, 6-4 and 6-4. It was Djokovic’s 10th singles title.
* * *
“They kept me going,” Federer said of the crowd that overtly favored him. “And that’s definitely one of the reasons I still keep playing, because of these moments, goose bump moments. It’s great.”
The players stepped off the court, answered a flurry of questions from a gaggle of journalists before hopping into their official Mercedes back to midtown hotels. In each of their countries, the news of the match’s outcome would have been breaking as those in their hometowns awoke Monday morning.
Meanwhile in Queens, thousands of fans walked the plank back to the 7 train, tired, drunk, weary, invigorated until next year.
“Federer, Djokovic,” they said, in all the tongues of the world.
Mary Pilon, formerly of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, is the author of “The Monopolists” (Bloomsbury, 2015). She is a regular contributor to POLITICO.