US Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz makes Major breakthrough, Serena Williams bids adieu - 5 talking points from historic fortnight

The US Open brought the Grand Slam season to a close, but not without providing its fair share of thrills, upsets, records and emotional moments galore.

With five-time winner Roger Federer and three-time winner Novak Djokovic not in action - albeit for different reasons - it was the first US Open since 1998 without either of the legendary duo.

It was also the first Flushing Meadows edition since 2003, where Federer, Djokovic, four-time winner Rafael Nadal and the retiring Serena Williams - a six-time winner - did not reach the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev's fourth-round loss means no man has successfully defended their US Open title since Federer's unprecedented five-peat in 2008.

With Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Karen Khachanov and Frances Tiafoe reaching the last four, it marked the first time in 141 years that all four players were first-time semifinalists in New York since the inaugural edition in 1881. Some history!

The final between Alcaraz and Ruud was the first at a Grand Slam where both finalists were in contention to become World No. 1. On the women's side, defending champion Emma Raducanu crashed out in the first round - providing only the third such instance in the Open Era at the US Open.

There was no shortage of enthralling sub-plots as the 55th Open Era edition of the US Open drew to a close. On that note, here's a look at five talking points from a memorable fortnight in New York:

#5 Serena Williams bids adieu, falls short of fairy-tale triumph

Serena Williams at the 2022 US Open - Day 5

Serena Williams called time on her legendary career at the US Open in the last fortnight. With the six-time winner winning only one of her four singles matches this year, not many expected Williams to cross the opening hurdle.

However, the 40-year-old rolled back the years in style - beating Danka Kovinic in straight sets before taking out second seed Anett Kontaveit in three - to improve to 42-0 in the first two rounds at Flushing Meadows. Her first-round win made her only the fourth player to win a Major match in her teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.

However, a fairy-tale triumph was not to be, as the 23-time Major winner lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets.

Nevertheless, Williams' 367 Grand Slam main draw wins - including 108 at Flushing Meadows - are records by a proverbial country mile.

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#4 US Open 2022 smashes attendance record

The US Open drew record numbers.

The 2022 edition of the US Open smashed the previous two-week attendance record of 737,802 set three years ago, as 776,120 fans thronged through the gates during the fortnight.

A record 888,044 people attended during the three-week period, including qualifying.

Serena Williams' match against Tomljanovic on September 2 attracted a record night-time crowd of 29,837, becoming ESPN's most viewed match ever (4.8 million viewers). Earlier, the day session saw 42,202 fans - making it a record single-day attendance of 72,039.

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#3 Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova complete career Golden Slam

The Czech girls won their first US Open title.

Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova recovered from a set and 4-1 down to beat the American pair of Taylor Townsend and Katy McNally in the women's doubles final.

That made the Czech girls only the fifth pair in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam. It was Siniakova and Krejcikova's third Major of the year, having won at the Australian Open and Wimbledon as they closed 2022 without a loss in Grand Slams. They didn't play Roland Garros due to Krejcikova's injury.

Siniakova and Krejcikova have joined the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena), Pam Shriver and Gigi Fernandez as the only players to win the career Golden Slam in doubles - having won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

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#2 Iga Swiatek is the queen of New York

Iga Swiatek at the 2022 US Open - Day 13

Iga Swiatek was the last woman standing in the women's singles draw at the US Open.

In a clash between the world's top two players, Swiatek beat Ons Jabeuer in straight sets to win her first title at Flushing Meadows - second Major of the year and third overall.

Swiatek looked on course for a lopsided win as she arrived within a point of a double break in the second, having won the first. However, with Jabeur fighting back, the Pole had to save break points and recover from a mini-break down in the tiebreak to reign supreme.

The World No. 1 is the first Polish player to win at Flushing Meadows, becoming only the second woman to win their first six sets in Grand Slam finals (also Jennifer Capriati).

Swiatek is the ninth player to win three Majors before turning 22 and the 10th in the Open Era to win the Roland Garros-US Open double.

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#1 Carlos Alcaraz makes Grand Slam breakthrough, becomes first teenager to ascend to No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz made his Major breakthrough on Sunday.

Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud in four sets to become the newest Major winner in men's singles and the new World No. 1.

With his triumph on Sunday, Alcaraz is now the first teenager to become the world's top-ranked player - breaking the earlier record of Lleyton Hewitt (20 years, 9 months) by almost 1.5 years.

In a hard-fought title match, Alcaraz showed none of the exertions of playing five sets in his three previous rounds as he drew first blood. Ruud leveled proceedings in the second, but Alcaraz saved two set points to win the all-important third set on a tie-break before riding a lone break in the fourth to create history.

Alcaraz is now the youngest Flushing Meadows champion since Pete Sampras (1990) and the first since Stefan Edberg (1992 US Open) to win any Major after playing five sets in the fourth round, quarterfinals and semifinals.

Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Results