Highlights from US Open Championships 2014

Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic pose with their trophies after the US Open finals

It was an anti climatic end to a rather fascinating championship when both the men’s and women’s champions raced to their titles in straight sets (the score in each of those sets being 6-3 incidentally). The results though were anything but less than special. While Serena Williams capped a rather ordinary year at the slams by winning her 6th US Open championship and 18th grand slam overall, Croat Marin Cilic won his first grand slam title and in the process also jumped into the top 10 of the men’s rankings.

Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams with their trophies at the US Open

Both worthy winners, who displayed tennis of the highest quality throughout the tournament and go home not only with the title but also with $3 million in prize money (US Open offers the highest prize amount to the title winner among all the four grand slams). This year’s grand slams have produced 8 different champions – the first time this has happened since 1998. So, before we bid goodbye to the last slam of the year, here are some of the highlights from the 134th edition of the US Open Tennis Championships.

Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Chris Evert - part of the 18 Grand Slams club

1. In elite company: Serena Williams joined tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in the 18 grand slam singles titles club when she won her final against Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday. Only Steffi Graff (22 titles) and Margaret Court (24 titles) have won more. At the start of the year, experts thought that Serena would add more to her kitty, but her up and down performances show that nearing 33 years of age and having been on tour for around 15 years, winning titles is not going to be a cakewalk for the American legend anymore. The great thing though is when Serena is on fire there is very little anybody can do to stop her. She has a booming serve, produces great angles on her forehand and she can outpower the best. Her movement and speed on court have declined but I reckon she can add a few more slams and break more records before ending her illustrious career. It was also an uncharacteristically emotional celebration from Serena post her win where she acknowledged that winning the 18th title had been weighing on her mind and how much winning at her home slam meant to her.
2. Is this a new begining for Marin Cilic? After not one but two spectacular displays of tennis, the Croat has made everyone stand up and take notice of his talent. Cilic has been around for a while and there was a time around 2010 when it seemed like he would make a breakthrough. Injuries and a suspension later, Cilic seems to have finally found his mojo thanks to some help from coach Goran Ivanisevic. He was ruthless in his semi final match against Federer and showed few signs of nerves against Kei Nishikori in the finals. Can he win more? Can he be world no.1? On paper, maybe. In reality, tough to say given how competitive this era of men’s teninis has been. It surely makes things interesting though and with the likes of Wawrinka, Raonic and Dimitrov in the mix, men’s tennis seems to be in good hands.
3. Let’s talk about the other finalists: Danish Carolinze Wozniacki is only 23 years old but has been around for ages (She was world no.1 in 2010 at the age of 19). Constantly riddled for not winning a slam and an over reliance on defensive skills, the Dane has been on a roller coaster tennis journey. This summer has been a turnaround for the Scandinavian and although she surprised many by reaching the finals here, I expect her to do better and make the year end championships in Singapore. Kei Nishikori of Japan became the first Asian man to reach a grand slam singles final leading to widespread celebration in his native country where ironically the championships are not being telecast live by any of the major networks. He has been knocking at the door of greatness for this past year, but has been troubled with fitness issues and injuries so how appropriate is it that he made it into his maiden slam finals on the back of two 5 set marathon matches and defeated world no.1 Novak Djokovic in the semis. Kei now rises up to a career best world no.8 in the world and here’s hoping he does one better the next time.
4. Who needs management lessons? – the USTA, of course: In what was universally described as a mismanagament of epic proportions, the women’s semifinal clash between Wozniacki and Shuai Peng ended on a sombre note with the 28 year old Chinese player being taken off court on a wheelchair. Playing under the hot New York sun in the midst of a heat wave, Peng asked for a medical timeout citing severe cramp in her legs. She left the court for a lengthy medical time out (which came in for intense scrutiny of its own considering it was during a break point and it was for cramps and not an injury) and returned without being penalized for the delay. A few points later, she succumbed to the heat again with her upper body going into a spasm leaving her opponent and the entire stadium in disbelief. She was soon taken off court and the match was rewarded to Wozniacki. Why was Peng not penalized? Why was she not thoroughly examined before being sent on court again? Will this set a bad precedent for an already murky issue - that of medical timeouts? There is no definite answer because the tennis authorities have often left the issue of timeouts upto the presiding chair umpire and the tournament organizers. It is high time that a standard protocol is followed not just to keep the match fair but also to ensure that the health of the player is not compromised.
5. Is Genie losing her magic? Ah, the perils of being a star. Eugenie Bouchard has had a tough summer. Following her fantastic run in grand slams, especially at Wimbledon where she made the finals, the 20 year old Canadian has not had much success on the hard courts. Apart from early losses at Cincinnati and Montreal, she has also been embroiled in off-court controversies such as a tax evasion scandal involving her father, rift with one time bestie Laura Robson and now criticism for withdrawing from a tournament. The fact that she lost in the 4th round at US Open where many expected her to do better adds salt to injury. Eugenie is young but has always seemed to have a mature head on her slender shoulders. But like they say, nothing succeeds like success and nothing fails like failure. These are tough learning lessons for the Canadian, but given the huge potential and talent she has, one hopes that she overcomes these blips and does fulfill her promise by winning a slam next year.
6. The comeback of all comebacks: Nobody, including a die hard Federer fanatic like myself, thought that the Swiss maestro could find a way back against Gael Monfils in the US Open quarterfinals. Despite not playing his best and up against an opponent who was firing on all cylinders, Roger Federer managed to dig deep to turn around a two set deficit and win a memorable match saving two match points in the process. Federer has had an amazing summer and was a hot favorite for the title considering the absence of arch nemesis Nadal and an underwhelming summer performance from Djokovic. But Gael Monfils is as unpredictable as any player can be and the mental aspect of his game sometimes lets him down. In this match as well, the swashbuckling Frenchman couldn’t seem to shrug off his lost opportunities and had a meltdown of sorts in the fifth set where he was tired and made costly mistakes. Federer of course went on to lose his semifinal against Cilic, but this match was in a sense the match of the tournament for the sheer excitement and drama of it all.
7. Believe in the sleeve: Few tennis followers would have not noticed big serving Canadian Milos Raonic’s uber cool sleeve. What he once wore as a safety precaution has now become a superstitious addition in Raonic’s attire, attracting attention from all quarters. [Picture Credit: National Post]

   

   Funny exchange between top tennis players referencing Raonic’s sleeve

8. The curious case of women’s seeds: Women’s tennis doesn’t always play along on expected lines. Except for Serena Williams and even that storyline went for a toss for the first three slams of the year. So, it should not have come as a surprise to see low ranked players and qualifiers making a deep run into the tournament. From Mirjana Lucic Baroni who defeated world no.2 Simona Halep in the second round to Swiss teen Belinda Bencic, whose magical run into the quarterfinals included defeating two top 10 players to the heroic run of 145th ranked Serbian Aleksanda Krunic who defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova; this year’s US Open saw more top ten seeds tumble before the first week than in any other slam. A bit more consistency, especially in the slams, will perhaps help the WTA, but the unexpectedness of the tour has its charms too. It is a hard debate to take sides, but the fact that the US Open women’s finals is held on Sunday primetime while the men’s on Monday (as opposed to other slams where the women play their final on Saturday and the men on Sunday) shows that women’s tennis has its own rules!

9. Down they came tumbling: Andy Murray and Victoria Azarenka have both been past slam champions. Both have been plagued by injuries through the season, Azarenka more than Murray, but after their US Open performances, their respective rankings make for an interesting story. Azarenka is now ranked no.24 and is out of the year end finals, while Murray slips down to no.11, though there are very few points differentiating the pack after the top 5. Murray’s comeback post his back surgery has been slow but sure. The game is so physical that expecting him to work wonders is unrealistic considering how tough the back surgery was. I for one reckon that he can post a more surer challenge in 2015 once he has recovered fully. As for the Belarusian, it is unfathomable that she has slipped past the top 20 considering how gutsy and determined a player she is. The rankings though work in a weird way and if you do not defend your points from previous years, the fall is inevitable. Australia has been very kind to Azarenka over the years and hopefully she regains her confidence there come next year.

10. Is there a new dawn? Are we finally going to see the hegemony of top 4 (or is it 3) in men’s tennis being broken? I doubt it. When Djokovic and Nadal are on fire, they are very hard to beat. They are 27 and 28 years old respectively which is considered to be a player’s physical and mental peak in tennis, so I expect them to be tough competitors for the next couple of years easily. That is provided Djokovic can deal with his fitness and personal life and Nadal can remain injury free. Roger Federer is in the twilight of his career and the only grand slam where I see him posing a definite threat is Wimbledon. Everywhere else he will be a looming threat but for him to win, a lot of things will have to fall in place. Put Murray into the mix and it is going to be hard for other players to consistently win slams. Wawrinka did it at Australian Open and now we have Cilic, but as Del Potro found out the hard way, winning a first slam is very hard, winning a second one is harder. I think gone are the days when a single player could win three slams in a calendar year, but we will still see familiar faces in the last stages of slams for a couple of years. The next generation might just have to wait a bit longer.

The tennis season is nearing its end and it has been an incredible year not just at the grand slams, but across other tournaments as well. As we bid goodbye to Flushing Meadows, the action now moves on to the year end finals where the best of the best will compete again. Here’s toasting to fantastic tennis, more surprises and compelling stories.