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The US Open final has been graced by many great players in the Open Era, winning multiple titles. Many of these players have clashed in the title match, making for memorable contests.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is expected to be the top seed for the upcoming 2023 edition, which kicks off in New York on August 28. The defending US Open champion is expected to face his sternest challenge from three-time winner Novak Djokovic, who's returning to Flushing Meadows after two years.
The world's top two players contested a riveting Cincinnati Open final. Djokovic fought back from a set and a break down, saving a championship point and squandering four of his own before prevailing in a third-set tiebreak.
At 11 minutes shy of four hours, it became the longest ATP three-set final in 33 years. There could be an encore at the US Open in three weeks' time as Alcaraz and Djokovic vie to win the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year.
On that note, let's delve down memory lane and relive five of the best US Open men's singles title matches in the Open Era (in no particular order):
#1 1980 US Open final: John McEnroe beat Bjorn Borg 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-4
Weeks after playing an unforgettable Wimbledon final for the ages, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg met in the 1980 US Open final.
McEnroe knew what he was up against as Borg twice served for the first set. However, the defending champion forced a tiebreak, pouncing on two Borg second serves at 5-4 to take the set. Riding his momentum, the American breezed through the second, conceding one game as Borg missed 14 of 22 first serves.
Borg, winless in two previous US Open finals, was not about to go away without a fight, though. He failed to serve out the set at 5-3 but hit five winners from 3-1 down in the ensuing tiebreak to reduce arrears. The Swede then took the fourth 7-5 to force a decider.
Having not lost a fifth set in 13 matches spanning four years, the momentum was with Borg as he eyed his first US Open title. However, his serving woes returned at 3-3, which was all McEnroe needed to win the title.
The pair would meet again in the following year's final, but the outcome was the same, this time a four-set win for McEnroe.
#2 1999 US Open final: Andre Agassi beat Todd Martin 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2
On paper, the final was a mismatch. Andre Agassi was enjoying a second wind, coming off his maiden Roland Garros title (fifth Grand Slam) and making the Wimbledon final. Meanwhile, Todd Martin was in his first US Open final and second Grand Slam final.
His semifinal win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov meant that Agassi was assured of the No. 1 ranking. He broke serve late in the first set in the opener, but Martin wasn't going anywhere.
The second and third sets went to tiebreaks, which - surprisingly - went Martin's way as he moved to within a set of becoming one of the most unlikely US Open champions. History was against Agassi - no man since 1973 (John Newcombe) won at Flushing Meadows from two sets to one down in the final.
Undeterred, Agassi launched his comeback, laying siege on the Martin serve, clinching the set 6-3 to force a decider. Two more breaks of the Martin serve ensued as the fifth all-American US Open final in the Open Era went the way of Agassi, who said:
''I don't remember any five setter that I didn't lose my serve. Win or lose, this is the greatest time of my life. I'll never forget New York right here.''
Martin had escaped from a two-set 4-2 40-15 deficit on Greg Rusedski's serve in the fourth round, but he found no way past Agassi's serve on the night.
#3 2009 US Open final: Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2
It's one of the biggest upsets in a Grand Slam final for multiple reasons. Roger Federer was the undisputed king of New York, having won the last 40 matches and five titles.
He led the first-time Grand Slam finalist Juan Martin del Potro 6-0, including a walloping double-bagel quarterfinal win in that year's Australian Open quarterfinal. Their Roland Garros semifinal matchup that year was a sterner affair, though, with Federer recovering from a break down in the fifth en route to winning the title.
Federer, the World No. 1, arrived in New York fresh off a record 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and hunting for an Open Era-first six-peat at Flushing Meadows. Del Potro, though, had other ideas, coming off a stunning 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over Rafael Nadal in the semis.
Both Federer and Del Potro dropped only two sets en route to the final, but in the early exchanges, the Argentine looked like a dear under the headlights. Federer took the first set 6-3. Serving for a two-set lead at 5-4 in the second, the Swiss blinked, and Del Potro's comeback would start from there, drawing parity by taking the tiebreak.
Riding his momentum, Del Potro led 4-3 with a break, but Federer broke serve twice to move to within a set of another title at the US Open. He had never lost a Grand Slam final after taking a 2-1 sets lead, but that would change on the night.
After an exchange of breaks early in the fourth, another tiebreak ensued, which Del Potro clinched to force a decider, where the Argentine entered beast mode. He would hit his forehand with such ferocity, rendering Federer utterly clueless about what hit him. The Swiss dropped serve twice as his impressive five-year Flushing Meadows reign came to an end at the hands of a new king.
Del Potro would later say about the win:
“I remember the last set and thinking I just have to win. I might never get a chance like this again. I have to win and many times you think it will not happen. Then the moment you win, and the dream is here. It is all over. You win and forever, you have won the US Open. It is the most amazing feeling.”
#4 2012 US Open final: Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2
Andy Murray felt the weight of the world when he faced his close friend and arch-rival Novak Djokovic in the 2012 US Open final.
It wasn't the first time Murray was in a Grand Slam final, but he was 0-4 in those matches. No man in the Open Era had lost his first five Slam finals. After an epic near five-hour battle, Murray would ensure that he didn't become the first.
Playing his first US Open final since losing to Federer in 2008, Murray needed six set points to draw first blood, winning a marathon 26-minute tiebreak. At 4-0 up in the second, the Scot might have started thinking about the third, but Djokovic dragged his opponent down to earth. Murray had to scrap - for dear life - as he took a two-set lead.
Not since Pancho Gonzalez in 1949 - and no one in the Open Era - had any man won the US Open final from two sets down. Djokovic, though, wasn't going anywhere. Murray, himself, was in unchartered territory: for the first time in five Slam finals, he won two sets, let alone the first two.
Djokovic broke his opponent twice as he reduced arrears, planting seeds of self-doubt in Murray's mind. Try as hard as he could, the Scot couldn't retrieve an early break of serve in the fourth as a decider ensued.
Murray would be a man reborn, energized by breaking in the first game. He soon led by two breaks, but with the memories of the second set still fresh, the outcome of the match was far from a foregone conclusion. Djokovic, sure enough, recouped one of the breaks, but cramps struck at the most inopportune moment, as he dropped serve at 4-2 down.
Serving for the match, Murray arrived at triple championship point. Djokovic saved the first. Would he launch one of his umpteen Houdini acts despite his physical limitations? Surely not, said Murray, who sent down a huge second serve - which Djokovic returned long.
At long last - 76 years and 287 Grand Slams later - Britain had another male Grand Slam singles champion - Andrew Barron Murray - after the longest final in US Open history. Fred Perry could finally rest in peace.
The then 25-year-old said after his triumph:
"I'm thinking a lot just now. I'm thinking a lot about a lot of different things. It's hard to explain. It's been a long, long journey. I don't know if it's disbelief or whatever. I'm very, very happy on the inside; I'm sorry if I'm not showing it as you would like."
#5 2020 US Open final: Dominic Thiem beat Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6)
Six years after Marin Cilic reigned supreme at Flushing Meadows, the US Open would see a brand-new Grand Slam champion, but it wasn't the one who looked likely to do so for large swathes.
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev faced off for the 2020 title, with the winner guaranteed to enter the pantheon of Major winners. While Thiem had been to the big stage before - thrice to be exact - he returned empty-handed each time; for Zverev, it was his first.
The German - coming in with 116 aces in six games - brought his most dangerous weapon to the fore. Four more aces boosted that tally, and 16 winners and two breaks of the Thiem serve meant Zverev won his first set in a Grand Slam final at the first attempt.
Thiem lost serve again - in the third game of the second - as Zverev burst into a commanding two-set lead and was up a break at 2-1 in the third. The Austrian desperately needed something to cling onto: he was getting overwhelmed against a first-time Grand Slam finalist and drowning quickly.
Thiem dug deep as Zverev's serve deserted him in the eighth game of the set, and soon the Austrian had pulled a set back. Match on. Eight games later, a love-hold from Thiem forced a decider.
Both players struggled on serve, sending down a plethora of double faults. Thiem cracked at 3-4, and Zverev served for the win. Two points away from victory, Zverev blinked though. Thiem broke back and broke again to serve for the title.
Surely, the last act of a topsy-turvy battle where the momentum swung one away and then the other? Of course, not. More drama ensued. It was Thiem's turn to drop serve as a tiebreak ensued. The Austrian saw two championship points come and go before eventually crossing the finish line, leaving Zverev wondering what might have been.
In the process, Thiem emulated Pancho Gonzalez (1949) as the latest US Open men's singles champion to win the final from two sets down. He said after the win:
"It was tough to stay there and to still believe, but I did. It's a Slam final...the belief was always there."
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