Last month, Flushing, New York, welcomed professional tennis players back to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Arthur Ash Stadium for the annual US Open. The matches this year were more than exciting. Serena Williams dominated, Novak Djokovic pulled out a win on the first day, and Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu were crowned champions.

The US Open found its home at Flushing Meadows, and it is the biggest sporting event in America today. Surprising, right? Believe it or not, the Open is bigger than the Superbowl or the World Series. Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world today. The US Open had a long journey to finding a true stadium. For the majority of the tournament’s existence, the Open took place right next door to the present stadium. In 1978, the tournament found its new home in the Singer Bowl, originally built for the New York World’s Fair in 1974. Changes came in 1997 when the famed Arthur Ash Stadium was built as the world’s largest tennis-specific stadium. Arthur Ash Stadium has been home to the some of the greatest athletic achievements of the century.

This year, the competition for the titles was beyond fierce. The men’s single finalists were Rafael Nadal, a Spanish player ranked second in the world for men’s singles; and Daniil Medvedev, a Russian player ranked fourth in the world for men’s singles. Both players fought for their spot, winning points one step at a time. In the end, Nadal secured the win with scores 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, and 6-4. This is Nadal’s 19th grand slam, and it will likely not be his last as he continues to train and play. The women’s single finalists were tennis legend Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu, the teenager from Canada. The women both played strong and hard, with Andreescu coming out on top for her first grand slam and major title. Beating her idol, Williams, was a surreal dream to her. Fans should never underestimate the rookie!

Tennis is not the most popular sport among high school students. Yet, some LHS students were interested in the matches. Sophomore Peter Donnarumma said, “Tennis is actually really interesting to watch. I had the matches on and got pretty into them. I can see why the Open has such a big following.” Many students even went to these intense matches. Connor Rogan, a sophomore, saw the match between Stan Wawrinka and Daniil Medvedev: “There wasn’t much of a good part for me considering I’m a fan of Stan, but it was fun and exciting to watch Medvedev possibly make history.” Manaka Ogura, a sophomore, went to the Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka match. She explained the emotional atmosphere: “My mom started bawling her eyes out watching that moment. It was so cool. Just imagine someone that is our age going against professional duos players at the US Open with so many people watching. The amount of people that came to her match because of what happened with Coco and Osaka was unbelievable.”

The US Open is a classic American tournament. Millions watch as players triumph, lose, win, and make history.