Chapter 34New York City, the near future
He stood there in the middle of center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium—the center of the tennis universe at the moment—cheers (the fans’) tears (his) and red, white, and blue confetti raining down on him. In the end, his Open triumph had been less dramatic, less arduous than his victories at the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon. On a late-summer Sunday, late in the day as the season began to take its sultry leave, victory seemed to fall into his hands—or on his racket at least—and he ended the tournament as he began it, with an ace, this time against a hot young player who had stunned Ramon in the semifinals, depriving the New York fans of what was becoming tennis’ greatest rivalry.
“Ah, well, we’ll put on a show for them in Beijing, won’t w
