The 2016 U.S. Open was filled with many upsets, dramatic finishes and plentiful headlines. Angelique Kerber of Germany is the new world No. 1, Novak Djokovic was stunned by Stan Wawrinka in the men’s final, and Serena Williams was upset in the semifinal round, dethroning her of her world No. 1 status. Let’s go over the highlights.
Day 1 featured several All-American matchups. The most notable matchup involved veteran and Greensboro native John Isner, who faced off against up-and-coming 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe. Isner was reeling after losing the first two sets (3-6, 4-6), but rallied to avoid the upset to advance to the second round (7-6, 6-2, 7-6).
The first huge upset of the U.S. Open occurred during the fourth round on Day 7. No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal lost to No. 24 seed Lucas Pouille of France in five sets (1-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7). The match was grueling to say the least for Nadal, lasting four hours and eight minutes, giving Pouille the greatest upset of his young career. Though Nadal’s major performance has declined in recent history, the Spaniard entered the match with momentum; he had not lost a set in his three previous matches.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his dominance defeating Kyle Edmund of Britain in straight sets.
Andy Murray credited sleep to his win over Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria to advance to the quarter final round. Not the preparation or the skill Murray shows on the court, no, it was a 12-hour slumber that Murray said was the key to his victory in the fourth round. Murray had been having trouble sleeping coming into the U.S. Open.
His hectic schedule including the Olympic Games, a tour event in Cincinnati last month and becoming a father this year attribute to his exhaustion. Sleep didn’t help Murray in the quarterfinal round, as he fell to No. 6 Kei Nishikori of Japan, who also won the bronze in Rio, in five sets (6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 5-7).
In the fourth round of the women’s singles, Serena Williams passed Roger Federer for the most career wins at a major with 308. Williams has dominated the women’s tennis world for what seems like an eternity;, she’s 35 years old and still a force to be reckoned with but she was handily defeated by Karolina Pliskova (2-6, 6-7) in the semifinal round. Maybe her loss is gaining more attention because she rarely loses, or because the winner, Angelique Kerber, won her second major of the year. Either way, Serena Williams has more competition than she expected.
No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber and No. 10 seed Karolina Pliskova faced off in Arthur Ashe Stadium for the women’s final on Day 13. Kerber came away victorious for the second time this year in a major event, as she won the Australian Open in January. Kerber defeated Serena Williams in the Australian Open final, and basically defeated her during the U.S. Open. The German would have dethroned Williams of her world No. 1 status even if she did not win the U.S. Open final. At 28 years old, Kerber is a late-bloomer in the tennis world. She spoke to The Guardian and credited hard work and patience.
“I really tried to play more intensely in practice and not play like maybe two, three hours just like that,” Kerber said. “I just got to court and spend a lot of hours as well on gym, or just make a lot of sprints and movement. That’s what I changed, especially in the pre-season.”
Stan Wawrinka prevailed over Djokovic in four sets in the Men’s Open Final (6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3). Wawrinka played with intensity and resiliency en route to the victory.
“Honestly, after the match I was completely empty … I put everything on the court,” Wawrinka told Sports Illustrated. “Not only today, but the past two weeks.”
Wawrinka now has three Grand Slam titles, the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 Open. He’s defeated the world No. 1 in all three, Nadal in the Australian and Djokovic in the French and U.S. Wawrinka has always been on the outside of the Big Four of tennis — Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Federer — but Wawrinka might have just moved out of Federer’s shadow, a fellow Swiss. Federer’s injury has set him back, but he does not intend to retire. If he does or if he chooses to come back, Wawrinka will be waiting for opportunity to be the next best Swiss tennis pro.
