AMERICANS POST STRONG SHOWINGS AT 2015 US OPEN  

The 2015 US Open was one of the most memorable in the tournament’s history, culminating with a coronation of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and a surprise title for Flavia Pennetta. It was also a fine tournament for Americans, who made headlines throughout the fortnight in Flushing Meadows.

Here is a look at some of the notable results and happenings from the 2015 edition:

• In the glare of the spotlight, Serena Williams electrified the tournament with her pursuit of the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. The Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon champion came up just shy, falling to unseeded Roberta Vinci in three-set semifinal upset.
   
• The women’s singles quarterfinals featured the 27th career meeting – and fifth at the Open – between Serena and Venus Williams. This was the first of that Open quintet to go the distance, with Serena battling back to top Venus, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, in one the most well-played, tightly contested encounters in the sister act’s 17-year rivalry.
   
• Overall, the U.S. had more women than any other nation advance into each round of the singles draw from the first round through the quarterfinals, when there were two Americans and two Italians. In all, four U.S. women advanced to the round of 16: Serena, Venus, Madison Keys and Varvara Lepchenko.
   
• The American men also had a strong showing at this year’s Open, with John Isner and Donald Young both advancing to the fourth round. That marked the first time two U.S. men had reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam event since the 2012 US Open (Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish). 
   
• Young had a particularly strong tournament, rebounding from down two sets to love to oust No. 11 seed Gilles Simon in the first round and coming back again from two sets down in the third round to upset No. 22 Viktor Troicki. 
   
• Fish made his final professional tournament a memorable one. Returning to play this summer after a nearly three-year absence due to heart problems and anxiety disorder, the former Top 10 player and Olympic silver medalist won his first-round match before falling to No. 18 seed and eventual quarterfinalist Feliciano Lopez in a hard-fought, five-set, second-round affair. 
   
• Also retiring at this year’s US Open were former world No. 1 doubles player Lisa Raymond, who won three Open women’s doubles titles and two mixed doubles championships in her Hall-of-Fame-worthy career, and Michael Russell, who competed in the US Open main draw in singles nine times and in doubles on eight occasions.
   
• Sam Querrey may have launched a second career as a doubles specialist. The Top 40 singles player excelled in the pairs competition at the 2015 US Open, teaming with fellow American Steve Johnson to reach the men’s doubles semifinals – upsetting No. 1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan en route – and joining with compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands to advance to the mixed doubles final.
   
• In women’s doubles, CoCo Vandeweghe joined forces with Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld to advance to the semifinals.
   
• Quad stars Nick Taylor and David Wagner stayed perfect in US Open Wheelchair Competition play, winning their seventh quad doubles title in seven attempts. Wagner also reached the final in the quad singles competition.
   
• UCLA stars Robin Anderson and McKenzie McDonald won the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, at the second US Open American Collegiate Invitational, each player earning at least a wild card into qualifying for the 2016 US Open. 
   
• The American boys wrapped up their most successful junior Grand Slam campaign since 1977, with world No. 1 junior Taylor Fritz defeating Tommy Paul in an all-American US Open boys’ singles final. With the victory, the U.S. swept the final three junior majors of the year: Paul won the French Open boys’ title, defeating Fritz in the final, and Reilly Opelka won Wimbledon, topping Fritz in the semis. 
   
• Also in junior action, Sofia Kenin reached the girls’ singles final, and Brandon Holt (son of former women’s singles champion Tracy Austin) and Riley Smith (son of NCAA title-winning USC coach Peter Smith) advanced to the boys’ singles final. 

For complete coverage of the 2015 US Open, go to USOpen.org.