Expected | Unexpected |
|---|
Tall, big-hitting dude in a baseball cap is last American man standing | That man, 55th-ranked and 6-foot-9 John Isner, not former champ Andy Roddick or even Sam Querrey |
A mom makes a triumphant return to women’s tennis | That mom is Kim Clijsters, not Lindsay Davenport |
Feisty 5-foot-6 woman takes on the big babes | Justine Henin remains in retirement; Melanie Oudin takes her place |
Serena outspoken in press conferences | Bold t-shirts do most of the talking (“Servin’ Up Some Hot Damn”; “You Can’t Spell Dynasty without Nasty”; “Vicious! Ambitious! Delicious!”) |
Last year’s finalist, Andy Murray, picked by many to win, uses wily game to lull opponents into errors | Lulls self to sleep in meek and flat performance, losing in 4th round against Marin Cilic |
| |
Nadal’s relentless play suffers from nagging injury | Abdominal strain, not patella tendonitis in his knees |
Maria Sharapova unveils sophisticated night and day cocktail dresses | Looks more like an underage junior in committing tour-record 21 double faults in loss to Oudin |
Vera Zvonareva struggles with knee injury | Has on-court meltdown and engages in shocking bout of self-mutilation |
Two Andys enter Open on a roll, anticipate challenging Federer for title | Neither makes it as far as the quarterfinals |
|
Tantalizing matchup of two men’s semis & women’s final all on one day | Downpours push Super Saturday to Stunning Sunday |
One tall American man remaining in final | Lo & behold, he’s a South American, from Argentina |
Attendance records broken in first week | Fans enjoy nothing but perfect blue skies and almost autumnal weather |
Hottest media buzz focuses on a bubbly blonde with unflinching self-belief | That’s Melanie Oudin, a 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., where she still helps clean up around her local tennis club |
Oudin, not expecting to stick around, books only a few days at NYC hotel | Booted to the curb by hotel, scrambles to find new place to stay after extending stay @ Open into second week |
Fans go crazy when Nadal strips off shirt | Man, not teenage girl, charges on court to kiss the Mallorcan and blurt “I love you!” |
Fashion again takes center stage | In curious twist, style all about players’ self-designed, garishly colored shoes |
Upsets happen | All over the place, decimating the top half of the women’s draw |
Jesse Witten, a 27-year-old University of Kentucky All-American ranked No. 276, considers giving up pro tennis | As unheralded qualifier, crushes 29th seed Igor Andreev and streaks to third round, where he scares the daylights out of No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic |
Dinara Safina again questioned as legitimate No. 1 | Flames out to 72nd-ranked Czech Kvitova after nearly losing in first two rounds |
Russian women in abundance in draw, threaten for title | None makes it past the fourth round |
Kim Clijsters’ reappearance after two-year absence sparks thoughts of “What If?” | Justine Henin rumored to hang up singing career, follow countrywoman on the comeback trail |
New faces add freshness, excitement | Top half of the women's draw all first-time quarterfinalists, two teens in semifinal |
Powerful unseeded Belgian woman battles through to semis | Name: Yanina Wickmayer |
Mixed doubles highly entertaining as usual; defending champions Cara Black and Leander Paes again in final | Winners an untested wild-card American team, Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott, who’d never played together before and only teamed up two days before the tourney |
Bryan brothers No. 1 seeds and doubles favorites | For second time in 2009, fail to make it to final of major, losing in semis |
Roger Federer and Andy Murray win Masters Series tune-ups on way to the Open | Upstart Sam Querrey, ranked No. 22, the Olympus US Open Series champ |
Roger Federer in semis of a major yet again | Extends streak to impossible-sounding 22 straight major tournaments; Ivan Lendl a distant second with 10 straight |
Taylor Dent entertains home crowd in night match | Returning to tour after back problems and fears he might never play tennis or even walk again, Dent wins splendid fifth-set tiebreak of rare serve-and-volley match, grabs the umpire’s mic and thanks Grandstand crowd before two laps of high fives |
American men comfortable playing on Flushing Meadows’ hardcourts | Not nearly comfortable enough; none makes it as far as the quarterfinals, first time ever in the Open Era |
Rafa Nadal, as he has at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, has to play a marathon of successive days of matches | Roger Federer relaxes comfortably in midtown hotel with several days off and monogrammed pillowcases |
Two 6-foot-6 players square off in men’s quarters | Juan Martín del Potro towers over Marin Cilic |
Novak Djokovic returns to delighting night crowd with impersonations of other players | A disheveled Johnny Mac scrambles down from the TV booth to defend his honor, plays in long-sleeve dress shirt and pants |
After rainiest summer on record in New York, fans and officials nervous about weather | First 10 days of tournament: not a drop of rain |
Two Belgian women make semis | Clijsters unranked after 2 years off tour, and Wickmayer ranked 50th |
Gisela Dulko encounters both Bondarenko sisters in successive rounds | After beating higher-ranked Alona, blanked by younger sis Kateryna, 6-0, 6-0 |
Marat Safin plays final Grand Slam event at US Open, where he captured one of his two major championships | Goes out with a whimper, neither his great talent nor great temper on display |
Fabrice Santoro, the two-handed magician, also retires | No tricks left in the bag for US Open fans |
Flavia Pennetta many observers’ dark-horse pick coming in | Confirms high level by losing just six games total in first three matches, averaging just 58 minutes on court |
Fourth-round match-up between Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams a highly anticipated nail-biter | In two weird sets, each player wins one 6-0 before Clijsters takes tight third |
2009 marks 25th anniversary of Super Saturday, 12 hours of tennis, with both men’s semis and the women’s final going the distance | 2009’s longest day spent waiting for someone, anyone, to take the court on final Friday |
Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters in scintillating battle worthy of a final | In shocker, Clijsters defeats Williams when Serena forfeits match point after hostile outburst directed at line judge |
Wheelchair women’s champ Ester Vergeer streaks to title again, now closing in on 400 straight victories | In shocker, actually loses a handful of games along the way |