The 2014 US Open was definitely one to remember. For the third consecutive year, Serena Williams captured the women’s singles title. In the final, she beat Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-3. It was her sixth overall US Open title and eighteenth total Grand Slam singles title. This now ties her with fellow Americans Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for third place on the all-time list. In addition, this title also means that Williams will maintain her number one ranking, a remarkable achievement for someone who is turning 33 at the end of the month. She is already the oldest player to ever hold the number one ranking, so it will be very interesting to see how much longer she can keep it for.
Serena steamrolled through the competition without dropping a set. She also did not face any top ten player in the entire tournament, as many of her main rivals had unexpectedly lost in the early rounds to lower-ranked opponents. Number two rankedSimona Halep of Romania, was seeking her first major title. Surprisingly, she fell in the round of 32 to Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets. Former champion and current world number six Maria Sharapova of Russia was also considered among the favorites, but was upset in the round of 16 by Wozniacki in three sets. Former world number one and two-time defending finalist Victoria Azarenka of Belarus had a rough season plagued by injuries. She went out in the quarterfinals to Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. Makarova had also beaten eighth ranked Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets in the previous round. The 20-year-old Canadian was also among the favorites to win the title, as she had reached the semifinals or better at the three previous majors this season. World number three rankedand current Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, was also knocked out early, as the Czech lefty lost in straight sets to Serbian Aleksandra Krunic in the round of 32.
Despite losing in the final, this was also a great tournament for eleventh ranked Caroline Wozniacki. It was the former world number one’s best showing at a major in five years. The Dane had struggled a lot over the past few years, especially earlier this year after her engagement to golfer Rory McIlroy was broken off, which was followed by more disappointing results. Also having great tournamentswere 28-year-old Shuai Peng of China and 17-year-old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who reached their first major semifinal and quarterfinal respectively.
The men’s tournament also was one of surprises. The absence of world number two and defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain made top-ranked Novak Djokovic and third ranked Roger Federer the clear favorites to win the title. Though Federer struggled in the quarterfinals against France’s Gael Monfils, he took the match in five sets despite losing the first two and being down match point twice along the way. Up to this point, the men’s tournament had lacked shocking upsets and it seemed that there would not be any in the semifinals either. Shockingly enough, Djokovic fell to eleventh ranked Kei Nishikori of Japan in four sets in the semifinals. It was the earliest that the Serbian had lost at the US Open since 2009, as he had been runner-up or champion every year since then. It had also marked the first time that an Asian male had reached the final of a major. Nishikori had only reached the quarterfinals of a major once before in his career.
In the second semifinal, Federer had to play the big-serving Croatian Marin Cilic. Cilic, ranked sixteenth, had been spending 2014 re-building his ranking following a controversial drug ban (which had later been overturned) that kept him out of the game for several months. The former top 10player shocked the Swiss all-time great, winning in straight sets to advance to his first major singles final. With two players ranked outside the top 10 that had never reached a major final before, this tournament suddenly took an unexpected turn.
In the final, it was Cilic taking it 6-3 6-3 6-3 over Nishikori. With this result, both players will move back into the top 10. Cilic also became the first Croatian to win a Grand Slam singles title since 2001, when Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon. Ironically, Ivanisevic now serves as Cilic’s coach.
The Bryan twins won the men’s doubles title, giving the Americans their fifth US Open doubles title and sixteenth overall major title. After reaching the semifinals in singles, Ekaterina Makarova teamed up with fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to win the women’s doubles title. It was their second major title as a team. Finally in mixed doubles, India’s Sania Mirza teamed up with Brazil’s Bruno Soares to win the title, their first as a duo.
Andrew Stamas can be reached at andrew.stamas@spartans.ut.edu.