US Open
The United States Tennis Open Championships, fondly known as the US Open is the fourth and last Grand Slam on the tennis calendar. Played on the quick deco surface with slightly less friction and lower bounce, the US Open is the breeding ground for ‘serve and volley’ players.
Held for the first time at Rhode Island in 1881 for members of the US National Lawn Tennis Association, the US Open has grown considerably to being one of the most prestigious events on the tennis circuit. The US Open was the first Grand Slam to use a tiebreak at the end of a set and is still the only Slam to use it at the end of the 5th set. With a seating capacity of over 22000, the main court is located at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after the Afro-American tennis player who won the inaugural US Open of the Open Era.
Great champions like Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have all won the US Open 5 times with Federer winning it for consecutive years from 2004-08. He also reached the final in 2009 but was beaten by a then unknown Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro missed the 2010 tournament due to injury while Federer was beaten in the semis by Novak Djokovic. But this was Rafael Nadal’s year to be. The Spaniard dismantled the Serb in the final and won the title thus joining the likes of Rod Laver, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer to win a career Grand Slam.
The US Open also Kim Clijsters script a fairytale comeback. After happily walking off into retirement in 2007 and getting married and becoming a proud mother, she returned to the mix in 2009 and after only 3 tournaments back on road, she stunned the tennis fraternity by winning the title. She went one better and showed that her triumph was no fluke as she retained the title in 2010.
Come 2011 and Federer will be hungry to win back and establish his supremacy at the Flushing Meadows while Clijsters will be looking to continue her fairytale run and make it a hat trick of US Open titles.
Tags: Arthur Ashe Stadium, Grand Slam, Jimmy Connors, Kim Clijsters, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, United States Open Tennis Championships, US Open
