Welcome to Appitude, a sports commentary show from our very own John Appicello — or as you know him, Appy.

The back-and-forth debate over unvaccinated tennis players being allowed to contest the Australian Open in January has heightened with the prime minister and a state political leader trading shots on points of difference.

Emma Raducanu’s qualifier-to-champion run at the U.S. Open has vaulted her 127 spots in the WTA rankings to a career-high No. 23.

Britain is hailing a new sporting superstar after Emma Raducanu won the U.S. Open as a qualifier for one of the most improbable achievements in tennis history.

Emma Raducanu has rolled through the first set of her women’s semifinal.

Dylan Alcott and Diede de Groot have a chance at tennis history Novak Djokovic can no longer make.

While the Americans are all done in singles at the U.S. Open, there’s still some home hopes in doubles.

Leylah Fernandez has reached the U.S. Open semifinals, one day after turning 19.

Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez has followed up her upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka at the U.S. Open by beating another past title winner at Flushing Meadows.

Emma Raducanu continues to roll at the U.S. Open, using a straight-sets victory to advance to the fourth round.

The tennis newlyweds are having a disagreement.

Kei Nishikori is the next man standing between Novak Djokovic and the completion of a calendar-year Grand Slam at the U.S. Open.

Even a retractable roof at the U.S. Open was no match for the heavy rain and wind the remnants of Hurricane Ida carried to Flushing Meadows.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has heard boos from the crowd for yet another long trip off court after dropping a set during a second-round victory over Adrian Mannarino.

After reaching the U.S. Open final last year with no fans, Victoria Azarenka appreciates playing in front of people again.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has heard boos from the crowd for yet another long trip off court after dropping a set during a second-round victory over Adrian Mannarino.

Naomi Osaka has made a dominant return to Grand Slam tennis by grabbing eight of the last nine games in her first-round match at the U.S. Open.

(CNN) - She has capped one of the most stunning maiden years in tennis with her first WTA title, but at the age of 15, Cori "Coco" Gauff is only getting started. Gauff finished 2018 ranked just inside the world's top 700, but she soared into the top 100 at No. After Ostapenko held, Gauff played a passive service game and was broken to love. "You have a bright future, and I am really glad to share the court with you," Ostapenko told Gauff at the trophy ceremony. "It's been an unbelievable week and definitely one of the biggest accomplishments of my career so far," said Gauff.

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point after winning the 2019 US Open. (CNN) - As Rafael Nadal fell in his chair, hands running through his hair, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd stood in unison to applaud the Spaniard. The video, which featured each of his grand slam victories, was met by huge cheers from the crowd and reduced Nadal to tears. Praise for MedvedevThe 33-year-old Nadal was made to work tirelessly for the victory by the 23-year-old Russian enjoying the best grand slam run of his career. 'It means a lot'Nadal clinched his first grand slam in 2005, when he won the first of his 12 French Open titles.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, cheers for Serena Williams of the United States during her Women's Singles final match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada at the US Open. NEW YORK (CNN) - Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, attended the women's singles final of the US Open to support her friend Serena Williams on Saturday. This isn't the first time Meghan has seen the tennis star and dear friend play. Meghan, along with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, watched Williams compete in the 2018 and 2019 Wimbledon ladies' singles final in London. Meghan and Williams have been close friends for years after meeting at a charity event.

Dimitrov entered the US Open ranked 78th -- his lowest figure at a major since the 2012 French Open -- and lost seven of his last eight matches entering the season's final major. One of those came against Kevin King, who was ranked 405th when he downed Dimitrov to open the US Open Series of hard-court tournaments in Atlanta in July. One of the two will land in a maiden grand slam final. The match turned when Vekic -- appearing in her first grand slam quarterfinal -- couldn't serve out the first set at 5-4. Andreescu is the fourth woman to reach the semifinals in her US Open debut, joining Chris Evert, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.

This is Williams' 100th victory at the US Open. Williams won 90% of her first serve points, won all five of her break point chances and had 25 winners to 10 unforced errors. Williams, seeded and ranked eighth, is the only one left in the women's singles draw who has won a major title. Should Williams win the US Open this weekend, she would tie Margaret Court for the most grand slam singles titles of all time. Williams last won the US Open in 2014.

Tennis star Mike Bryan has been fined $10,000 for pretending to shoot an on-court line judge with his racket at the U.S. Open Sunday. FLUSHING, N.Y. - US tennis star Mike Bryan has been fined $10,000 for pretending to shoot an on-court line judge with his racket at the US Open Sunday. Bryan had successfully challenged the line judge's decision after replays on the big screen showed the ball had landed narrowly behind the baseline. After the call was corrected, Bryan mimicked a rifle with his racket and aimed it at the line judge in question. "We won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful," Bryan said in a statement given to the New York Times.

FLUSHING, N.Y. - In an era where men's tennis has been dominated by the "Big 3" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka can at times be a forgotten man. 1 and defending US Open champion Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. It was a rematch of the 2016 US Open final, which Wawrinka won in four sets. 1After Wawrinka won the first set, Djokovic raced to a 3-0 second-set lead. "I was feeling good on the court," Wawrinka said.

NEW YORK (CNN) - Coco Gauff will not match her magical Wimbledon run -- and Naomi Osaka's quest to defend her US Open title continues. The Japanese-Haitian, who has dual Japanese and American citizenship, won her second grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January. She is bidding to become the first woman to defend the US Open since Williams won three in a row from 2012 to 2014. In 2018, Gauff and McNally won the US Open girls' doubles title. Gauff's Wimbledon came to an end at the hands of eventual champion Simona Halep, who lost Thursday to 23-year-old American Taylor Townsend.

Daniil Medvedev of Russia argues with the chair umpire during his Men's Singles third round match against Feliciano Lopez of Spain on day five of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Aug. 30, in Queens(CNN) - Daniil Medvedev has become this year's US Open villain. When learning of the violation that chair umpire Damien Dumusois had given him, Medvedev threw his racquet. After he won, surrounded by boos, Medvedev raised up his arms, motioning to the crowd to keep going. "Thank you all, guys, because your energy tonight gave me the win," Medvedev said in an interview on court. In 2017 at Wimbledon, he was fined $14,500 for several infractions, including tossing coins in the direction of chair umpire Mariana Alves after a five-set loss.

Coco Gauff performed well at Wimbledon in 2019, and continues to advance at the 2019 U.S. Open. Osaka and Gauff have known each other for a few years, but Saturday will be their first time playing each other. Hours before Gauff took the court against Babos, Osaka was asked about potentially playing the young American. So, yeah, definitely would love that, but at the same time I know she's going to have to get through a tough opponent. "She came up to me and she was like, 'Congrats on Wimbledon,'" Gauff said.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images(CNN) - Simona Halep might have just won Wimbledon, but the Romanian's struggles continue at the US Open after she was upset by a net-rushing American qualifier, Taylor Townsend. Halep will be ruing the match point she missed, too, a makeable forehand return as her foe served and volleyed. Townsend incredibly approached the net 105 times against one of the game's top counterpunchers, and even though her percentage of points won -- 60 -- wasn't overly high, the 23-year-old ultimately won the most important ones. Townsend was in tears after collecting her first top-10 win, having been so close at Wimbledon when she held a match point on Kiki Bertens. She trailed Nina Stojanovic in the final round of qualifying by a set and 5-1 in a second-set tiebreak.

(CNN) - Serena Williams won her first US Open title in 1999 and had reached her second final in New York in 2001 -- both coming before Caty McNally was born. The 17-year-old initially gave Williams, 37, a scare Wednesday, in the second round of the US Open. Her record in the US Open second round improves to 19-0. "For me, I think it just shows that I'm capable of playing with the best -- I got a set off Serena Williams," McNally said. Williams fought off the teenager in the second set and then went into cruise control, dropping just five points in the third.

(CNN) - Novak Djokovic, as initially expected, won his US Open second-round match against Juan Ignacio Londero on Wednesday. Djokovic, with pain in his left shoulder, was in initial trouble against the Argentine. Trailing with Londero up a break at 3-2, Djokovic was able to break back and then saw the trainer. After trading breaks to open the third set, Djokovic pulled away. With the win Wednesday, Djokovic ties his childhood idol, Pete Sampras, for the fifth-most US Open wins (71) in the Open era.

(CNN) - Nick Kyrgios dispatched Steve Johnson in straight sets in the first round of the US Open, but it was his comments after the match that sparked controversy. "ATP's pretty corrupt anyway, so I'm not fussed about it at all," Kyrgios told reporters in New York of his fine. "Why are we talking about something that happened three weeks ago when I just chopped up someone [in the] first round of the US Open?" At that point, the match was evenly poised with Kyrgios 1-0 up and on serve, before prevailing in a tie break in the second set. Kyrgios, who has never progressed past the third round at the US Open, next faces Frenchman Antoine Hoang.

It had been five years since a player won a main draw match at the US Open prior to their 16th birthday; the last player to do it was CiCi Bellis. Gauff, the youngest player in the draw, trailed by a set and a break. The youngest player in the draw, Gauff is making her US Open debut as a wild card. In 2018, Gauff won the US Open girls' doubles title with McNally. 28 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, retired after Babos won the first set 6-2.

(CNN) - Despite an up-and-down performance, Naomi Osaka's US Open title defense is underway in New York. "I don't think I've ever been this nervous in my life," Osaka said to ESPN on court after the win. The roller coaster continued in the second set, with Osaka saving three set points to make it 5-5. Osaka is looking to become first woman to defend a US Open title since Serena Williams won three in a row from 2012 to 2014. In January when she won the Australian Open, Osaka became the first woman to win her second consecutive major after winning her first since Jennifer Capriati did so in 2001 (Australian Open followed by the French Open).

Serena Williams clashed with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, culminating when he docked her a game for calling him a "thief." A laser-focused Serena Williams entered the stadium to roars from the crowd. The results were also the same as the last 15 years: Serena Williams, seeded eighth, won 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour, improving her record against the Russian to 20-2 as she seeks her 24th major title. After the match, Serena Williams addressed the crowd during her interview with ESPN. Venus Williams, Djokovic, Federer winOne of those former champions is Venus Williams, who dominated China's Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-0.

(CNN) - American teenager Amanda Anisimova has withdrawn from the US Open after the sudden death of her father and coach Konstantin Anisimov. "We are shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of our father," read a statement from the Anisimova family. Tennis world reactsAnisimov had moved to the US from Moscow in 1998 with his wife Olga and eldest daughter Maria. Following Monday's tragic news, the tennis world quickly expressed its sympathy for the Anisimova family, with Maria Sharapova and Nick Kyrgios tweeting messages of support. In addition, her fellow American teenager Cori "Coco" Gauff tweeted "deepest condolences to the Anisimova family during this tragic time."

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images(CNN) - Roger Federer has suffered his fastest defeat in 16 years after crashing out of the Cincinnati Masters Thursday. The 20-time grand slam champion was roundly beaten 6-3 6-4 by Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in just 62 minutes. Defense, offense, serving well," Federer said of his opponent after the match. No 70 was clearly emotional after beating Federer and can now look forward to a quarterfinal match up with fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev. "It's the biggest and most emotional win," said Rublev, before turning his attention to praising Federer.

Cori Gauff returns a shot to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan during Day 2 of the Citi Open at Rock Creek Tennis Center on July 30, 2019, in Washington, D.C.(CNN) - Cori "Coco" Gauff will compete in her second career grand slam later this month after US Open organizers handed the 15-year-old a wild card entry. The American teenager became an overnight sensation in July when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, beating the likes of idol Venus Williams in the process. Earlier this month, Gauff won the Citi Open women's doubles title, where she partnered 17-year-old Catherine McNally. Gauff recently old CNN Sport she was looking forward to playing in the US Open and believed she had the potential to win the tournament. More to follow...The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

(CNN) - Following his first singles match since hip surgery, Andy Murray has confirmed he will not play singles at the forthcoming US Open. Murray lost his first-round match against Richard Gasquet at the Western & Southern Open 6-4 6-4, ending a seven-month absence from singles tennis. "I didn't want to take a wild card today [Monday] because I just didn't know how I was going to feel after a match. The Scot was partnered by Pierre-Hugues Herbert at Wimbledon in the doubles while he played with Serena Williams -- dubbed 'SerAndy' -- in the mixed doubles. The 2012 US Open champion confirmed his intentions to play doubles and mixed doubles in Flushing Meadows, which begins on Aug. 26.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Cori "Coco" Gauff said she would "learn a lot" after being beaten in straight sets at the Citi Open in Washington on Tuesday. "Every loss, there's something I learn from that, so I learned something about myself," Gauff said after her match. READ: Coco Gauff eyes US Open run after 'crazy' Wimbledon? READ: Coco Gauff -- How do you protect a 15-year-old tennis prodigy? She beat the likes of Venus Williams on her fairytale Wimbledon run which only came to an end at the hands of eventual champion Simona Halep.

(CNN) - It was his to lose, but Ireland's Shane Lowry had no intention of letting the Claret Jug slip from his grasp as he romped to victory in the Open at Royal Portrush for his first major title. He becomes only the second player from Ireland to win a major after Padraig Harrington won three between 2007 and 2008. Fleetwood was also chasing his first major title after a runner-up spot in the 2018 US Open, but he just couldn't get close enough to rattle Lowry. "He's everyone's son in Ireland today," said former European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance on TV commentary. But the Open's Claret Jug, and first prize of $1.935 million, is something he'd only dreamed of until now.

Where once he gave nothing away, Woods seems more open to letting us in. Woods described Royal Portrush as "wonderful" and an "unbelievable golf course," adding it was "amazing" the Open hasn't been played here since 1951. So he knows only too well that on the right course, in the right week, Woods can be a major threat. He's also undercooked on the golf course, having recently spent time in Thailand with his family. He won't like this stat then -- since 1986 only Woods has won the Open as world No.1.

Cori "Coco" Gauff is just now beginning to process what it feels like to be at the next level of international tennis stardom. After becoming the youngest player to reach Wimbledon through qualifying, Gauff entered the tournament ranked No. Accolades from her idols have been pouring inFormer first lady Michelle Obama took note of Gauff's success, tweeting "Coco is terrific!" "I hope they learned about me, that I'm a fighter and I'll never give up," she said. The US Open, which starts next month, is one tournament where Gauff could appear.