The gang’s all here: Big 4 has U.S. Open buzzing

The gang’s all here.

For the first time since Wimbledon 2017–yes, that’s more than an entire year ago–the Big 4 are playing in the same tournament. Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer. Novak Djokovic. Andy Murray. All of ’em.

And that’s not even mentioning former U.S. Open champions Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin Del Potro. Yep, they’re also back after taking turns being forced into their own disappearing acts.

“(This is) the first tournament in over a year that you, Andy, Roger, Novak, Rafa, Delpo, and all that are together,” a reporter stated during Wawrinka’s first-round press conference. “Does it feel nice to have the gang back together, or would you rather the other guys were somewhere else?”

“No, I think it’s great,” the Swiss responded with a smile. “I think it’s good. I watched a bit of Andy (vs. James Duckworth) after my match. I think it’s great to see him back playing, fighting, and [being] happy and winning match [at a] Grand Slam.

“The other players were watching Roger and Rafa winning everything while they were injured. I think it’s always good. I have always been a fan to watch the top guys playing, if possible, playing against each other in [finals]. It’s always (an) amazing match. I think it’s great also for the fans, for the tournament what’s gonna happen in the next two weeks.”

He’s darn right it is.

This U.S. Open is already on fire, and not just because of the record-hot temperatures. The opening day session set an attendance record of 40,541 and the Monday night session attendance broke the previous mark when 27,291 shimmied through the gates. That’s 40,541 who watched Wawrinka and Murray win their first-round matches; 27,291 who saw Nadal and Del Potro take care of business.

Federer and Djokovic joined them in the second round with victories on Tuesday. The gang’s all here and, at least so far, they’re all sticking around.

“I’m happy to see him in the [top] positions, winning Grand Slam, winning big titles,” Del Potro said of Djokovic. “I’m so proud what he’s doing again, and hopefully he can still [make more] history in this sport, because I love him and I’m so happy for his team, as well. It’s amazing. I think it’s good for the tennis world.”

Del Potro may love Djokovic (well, he loves everybody, no?), but the U.S. Open–just like every other event in the universe–especially loves Federer. He’s still out here kicking it at 37 years old, and he kicked Yoshihito Nishioka to the curb 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday night.

And it was loud in there. It always is for a night session in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but this was really loud. It was so loud that you couldn’t hear Mohamed Lahyani of all umpires call the score on his own court. Granted, Mohamed’s microphone was broken. But still, even Mohamed sans microphone is still louder than any other umpire.

(Side note: despite the presence of the Big 4, Big 5, Big 6, whatever it is, there are still some people like me who will watch a five-setter on Court 8 between Benoit Paire and Dennis Novak instead of Fed-Nishioka. Okay, I may or may not have been there simply because Mohamed was in the chair).

There’s simply a different buzz at this U.S. Open.

Last year’s was nice and all, to see breakthroughs for guys like Kevin Anderson, Pablo Carreno Busta, Diego Schwartzman, and Denis Shapovalov, among others. But let’s be honest: it just wasn’t a box-office event. Here’s a sobering sample of matchups in the first four rounds that were played on Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2017: Carreno Busta vs. Shapovalov, Shapovalov vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Shapovalov vs. Kyle Edmund, Alexander Zverev vs. Darian King, Marin Cilic vs. Tennys Sandgren, and John Isner vs. Mischa Zverev.

This time around? Shapovalov played his first match on the third biggest court and is playing his second match on the fifth biggest court. Zverev, Cilic, and Isner won’t sniff Ashe unless they reach the second week or the Big 4/5/6 start losing.

And I almost forgot Zverev, Cilic, and Isner were even in the tournament. Zverev is the No. 4 player in the world. Cilic is former USO champion. Isner is the top American and by far the host nation’s best player right now. Basically no mention of them anywhere. Zverev’s been asked about 20 questions through two press conferences and basically 20 of those 20 were about new coach Ivan Lendl. Nobody cares about Zverev, but at least they care about his coach!

Actually, he was asked one about the seasons Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic are enjoying.

“Amazing,” Zverev assured. “I mean, they all won a slam. They all won Masters Series. It’s great to see them play at the level they are. It’s great to see them all kind of back competing for Grand Slam titles, competing for the biggest tournaments in the world. Tennis [has been] waiting for this for a long time. This is the first time since Wimbledon last year that all the big four are back playing again. It’s interesting to see.”

Interesting? Even the Dos Equis man is jealous of how “interesting” this U.S. Open is. It’s awesome.