Saturday and Sunday US Open tennis began with the doubles championships. The men’s Saturday was won by Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The women’s doubles finals were won by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova Sunday. Prize money? $625,000.
Saturday’s runners-up were the team of Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo García-López (men’s doubles), both from Spain, and the team of Caroline Garcia and Khristine Mladenovic (women’s doubles) Sunday. Each team split $310,000.
With all of the international winners, Felix Auger-Aliassime, 16, the Junior Singles Champion from Canada, is an impressive young player on the circuit, although he’s had the misfortune of having his championship match conclude during the start of the Stan Wawrinka- Novak Djokovic championship finals.
“Today was a bit dead because at the same time they had the men’s final,” said Auger-Aliassime, who played his championship match against Serbian Miomir Kecmabovic, 17, in the Grandstand stadium located not far from the US Open’s biggest venue, named after tennis great, Arthur Ashe. “I really had to push myself.”
You can hear the applause of the crowd from either stadium.
“Sometimes you’ve got to play by yourself,” he said about the very small crowd of people in the stands.
Critiquing his win, Auger-Aliassime said, “It’s one of my best performances I have had … You don’t always play at your best level because you’re a bit nervous and there is something big to get … I just stayed really steady.”
Sounding like Wawrinka, Djokovic or one of the other men’s Open champions, Auger-Aliassime spoke candidly about his tournament experience.
“It wasn’t an easy week,” he said. “I have had some tough matches in the final rounds. It’s never easy to come to a Grand Slam. You know, you’ve reach a final before, but every opponent is going to be tough. You still have to go win, and win every round. There are no free rounds.”
After winning the US Open Juniors title, is pro tennis in the mind of this 16-year-old? Others have moved up. “I think everyone has his own path,” emphasized Auger-Aliassime. “Some guys, they win early in juniors, but it doesn’t go well in the pros … I have already had some good wins at the pro level. I know I can compete with these guys … We’ll see how my body feels after this year. We’ll make the adjustments that we need to do.”
