NEW YORK: A year after what seemed like a fairytale episode of the US Open - when the fresh-faced Emma Raducanu came through the qualifiers to win the title and Daniil Medvedev stopped an emotionally-drained Novak Djokovic just one match short of a historic calendar Grand Slam - the season appears to have an arcane ring to it. Again.
The men's and women's events in Ohio, the big stop leading into New York, where unseeded players came up trumps, ostensibly hit a palimpsest note. Borna Coric, who was ranked 152 at the start of the tournament, sidelined for a year with a right shoulder injury, won the men's title. The 25-year-old Croatian is the lowest-ranked player ever to win a Masters 1000. The women's winner was France's Caroline Garcia, the first qualifier ever to win a WTA 1000 title.
