From the start of the main draw on Aug. 26 through yesterday, attendance is at 540,333GETTY IMAGES
Attendance at this year's U.S. Open is on pace for an all-time record. From the start of the main draw on Aug. 26 through yesterday, attendance is at 540,333, the most ever for the event's first eight days (USTA). SI.com's Jon Wertheim gave the USTA an A grade for the first half of the tournament. He wrote after a "clumsy final weekend" last year, the USTA had a "strong first week." Wertheim: "The pre-tournament Fan Week was a smash. The roofs paid dividends when it rained on Wednesday. The technology worked well. Attendance was strong" (SI.com, 9/1).
GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE: SI.com's Stanley Kay wrote Naomi Osaka's win over Coco Gauff on Saturday was the "most anticipated match of the tournament's first week, with an atmosphere more befitting a final than the third round." Saturday evening "felt like a prelude: It was the first meeting between Osaka and Gauff, but it almost certainly won't be their last" (SI.com, 9/1). In S.F., Ann Killion writes the matchup between Gauff and Osaka was "super hyped." There has been "a lot of discussion about the state of the women's game and its future." Killion: "Who are the stars? Who will we root for?" But this match showed the women's game is in "very good, very young hands" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/3).
STARS ALIGN: In N.Y., Christopher Clarey notes with Osaka and Ashleigh Barty losing yesterday in the fourth round, it is "now guaranteed that there will be four different Grand Slam women's singles champions this season." It is "not a new development," as there were "four different major singles champions" in '17 and '18. But the situation "remains quite a contrast with the men's game, where three players continue to hoard the Grand Slam loot" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/3).
