Serena's upset for
the ages: No matter how good you are
it's natural to have a bad day here or there. Serena did a great job of
overcoming some bad days on her way to the US Open, but eventually having so
many close calls is going to catch up to you.
Losing to Roberta Vinci may be shocking on its own, but every great
player loses the occasional match to a solid if not spectacular pro. That said, Serena sure let an incredible
opportunity slip away. None of the other
top seeds remained by the tournaments latter stages, and she wasn't able to
capitalize. Maybe nerves got to her,
maybe she had a mental let down following a dramatic win over her sister, or
maybe it was just one of those days where she was a bit off and ran into a
tricky opponent. Serena's year is still
phenomenal despite the loss, but it will be hard for her not to think about
what could have been when she looks back on her 2015.
Djokovic confirms
what we all knew: Heading into the
US Open Roger Federer may not have technically been the favorite, but he was
the popular pick to steal the title from the world number one. Federer had just beaten Djokovic and Murray
in Cincinnati ,
and undeniably was in great form.
Everyone seemed to forget that Federer had also been in great form
heading into nearly every grand slam for the last few years yet failed to
capture the title every time (This isn't
meant to knock Federer, who at 34 is still playing at an unbelievably high
level, but at some point tennis fans and analysts have to wake up and realize
we've seen this show before). Djokovic is
number one in the world for a reason, and a loss to Federer in Cincinatti when
he was fatigued from Canada
should have never been given so much emphasis.
Djokovic's defense and depth made Federer force the issue a bit more
than he wanted, and it was clear from the beginning that we weren't seeing the
same Federer we had seen during his previous 6 matches. Djokovic now has 10 grand slams and counting,
and what was once a Big Four appears to have dwindled to a Big One.
Flavia Pennetta's
stunning victory: Heading into the
US Open Flavia Pennetta was 2-5 in her last 7 matches. Naturally, she left New York holding one of the most prestigious
trophies in the sport. There have been
plenty of surprise major winners before, but Pennetta's US Open title is right
up there with the best of them. She's
had a long and relatively successful career, but there was simply no indication
this was coming. Regardless, Pennetta
picked the best possible time to go on a hot streak, and because of it she
completely changed how her career will be remembered.
Who's satisfied, and
who's kicking themselves: They may
not have won the tournament, but Donald Young, Benoit Paire, Kevin Anderson, Roberta
Vinci, and Venus Williams all have to be feeling pretty good about their runs
in New York . Vinci scored one of the biggest upsets in
recent memory in her take down of Serena, and Venus looked good during her run
to the quarters. Young and Paire each
showed more mental and physical toughness than we've come to expect from them,
and Anderson managed to knock out Murray
with his overwhelming power. On the
other hand, Azarenka and Halep must be furious about losing before the finals
given that Serena didn't end up being there.
On the men's side, while it never would have been easy for Murray to beat Federer
and Djokovic back to back, he has to feel like he blew another opportunity at a
slam. He had just beaten Djokovic in Canada , and
must have thought he had a chance to take the title heading in. Instead, Murray remains stuck on two major titles
while all the other members of the Big Four are now in double digits.
