In 2011, after having failed to grab the crown in Paris a year earlier in what one had every right to believe might be her *only* such chance at slam glory, Samantha Stosur spent two weeks snaking her way through the U.S. Open draw, often under the cover of darkness and after having been pushed off onto smaller courts. But when she finally got her chance to shine on the biggest stage of them all in the final, she was as good as she'd ever been, or would ever be again.
After having lost in three sets in the QF to eventual U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters in 2010, Stosur used a series of strong forehands, steady returns and gorgeous low backhands to maneuver her way through a tough draw a year later. It took four MP spread over two sets in the 3rd Round, but Stosur got past Nadia Petrova on Louis Armstrong in three sets in 3:16. A round later on the Grandstand court, despite losing a 17-15 2nd set TB to Maria Kirilenko during which Stosur had five MP (the Russian won three replay challenges in the breaker, with one taking away a MP chance and another *on* MP), the Aussie had MP's #6 & #7 in the 3rd (Kirilenko saved those, too) before finally winning on her eighth attempt. A win over '10 U.S. Open finalist Vera Zvonareva came on Grandstand, as well, the same with a three-set semifinal win over Angelique Kerber.
Finally, Stosur was granted access to Ashe Stadium in order to play in the women's final, where she defeated Serena Williams 6-2/6-3, becoming the only player other than Venus Williams (2) or Maria Sharapova (1) to defeat Serena in 25 slam finals between 1999-2015. While Stosur's service holds and forehand controlled the match vs. a listless Williams, the match was marred/sparked by chair umpire Eva Asderaki enforcing a "hindrance" penalty on Serena early in the 2nd set when she'd yelled "Come on!" in the middle of a point after hitting what seemed to be a clean winner, before Stosur had been able to lunge and clip the ball with her racket frame. Asderaki took the point away from Williams, causing her to be broken, sparking a mini-resurgence from Serena, as well as a diatribe directed at Asderaki during a changeover in which she called her "a hater" who was "unattractive (on the) inside."
Stosur ultimately weathered the storm, hitting her 20th winner of the match on MP. The win maintained what had been a a pattern in Stosur's "practice makes perfect" career in which it took her a bit longer to get where she desired than, say, someone such as Williams. While Serena found success early, winning at the Open at 17 in 1999 and going 5-1 in the first six tour finals of her career that season, Stosur went 0-5 in tour finals over four seasons before finally raising her first singles trophy in '09 at age 24. Stosur had to become a #1 doubles player first, THEN get her singles footing. She had to fail in big moments, and see her tennis future possibly flash before her eyes when she lost parts of two seasons to Lyme Disease in 2007-08, before finally reaching her career height. While Serena won her first slam title in just her seventh attempt, it took Stosur thirty-four, at the time the third-longest "training period" in WTA history for a major champion.
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Serena's appearance in the final had come in just her second slam back since returning from foot injuries in a German club following her '10 Wimbledon win and, later, a pulmonary embolism. After a Round of 16 loss at Wimbledon, Williams had hit her stride on summer hard courts, taking the Stanford title in her third overall event back, winning the U.S. Open Series, and going 18-0 in North America leading into the U.S. Open final.
She'd entered the Sunday final already in an irritated mood after experiencing what had been a rain-plagued tournament with many scheduling snafus. She'd played a late match on Saturday night and said she did not get to sleep until 4:30 a.m., five hours after the end of her match. “I definitely think that is not the best way to plan for the final,” Williams said on Sunday.
During the match, she seemed lethargic, even lopsided, favoring a sore right toe. But by the end of the final, contested on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in New York City, any lingering injury, fatigue or memories of her three previous title runs in New York weren't top of mind. Instead, Williams had managed to resurrect the memory her *last* Open appearance in '09, when she'd been called for a foot fault in her semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters, leading to an outburst at a lineswoman during which she threatened to "kill" her and stuff a ball down her throat, leading to her being DQ'd on MP. While this incident didn't rise to the level of offense of the previous one, it did further establish a certain "behavioral pattern."
This time, the "hindrance" call led Serena to immediately assail Asderaki, saying, "Aren’t you the one who screwed me over last time? (if referring to the '09 semi, *that* umpire was Louise Engzell, not Asderaki) Are you coming after me? That is totally not cool.” Then, at the next changeover, she went after her again, saying, “Don’t even look at me. You’re a hater. You’re very unattractive inside. I never complain. Who would do such a thing? You’re punishing me for expressing my emotion.”
After the match, Serena professed to not remember saying any of it, though she later admitted (via Twitter) to letting her emotions get the best of her.
The incident wouldn't be the last in the decade at Flushing Meadows involving Williams and an on-court official to leave a lingering bad taste that took the focus away from the actual champion. It would take seven years, but there *would* eventually be another.
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2010 women's champ Kim Clijsters, still without a loss at Flushing Meadows since 2003, missed the Open with an abdominal injury.
It was the Belgian's second straight slam missed due to injury in '11, and she was the second '10 major winner (S.Williams/AO) to not attempt to defend her title the following season. Clijsters ultimately wouldn't play in three of four majors (playing only the '12 AO in the 12-month stretch), and announce that that she'd retire for a final time at the conclusion of her participation in the 2012 U.S. Open.
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World #92 Angelique Kerber, who'd only reached the 3rd Round twice before in fifteen career slam MD appearances (and had lost four straight times in the 1st Round), was a surprise maiden slam semifinalist. She defeated an error-prone Flavia Pennetta in three sets in the QF to become the first German woman to reach the U.S. Open semis since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Joining Kerber in the semis was Caroline Wozniacki, once again the #1 seed, who posted at least a Final Four result in New York for a third straight year (RU-SF-SF). The Dane had lost just one set en route to the semis, overcoming a 7-6/4-1 deficit in the Round of 16 against Svetlana Kuznetsova. She lost in straights in the semis to Serena Williams.
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Despite being unseeded for the first time in fourteen years, Venus Williams still had the respect of the tournament schedulers, as she opened the Day 1 night session on Ashe Stadium against Vesna Dolonts in the 1st Round. Dolonts had arrived in New York on a late flight after experiencing visa issues while trying to travel to the U.S. from Russia. Venus won 6-4/6-3. Before her 2nd Round match, though, Williams withdrew from her match against Sabine Lisicki with the announcement that she'd been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease which causes fatigue and muscle and joint pain. At the time, it was felt that her career might be in jeopardy.
The exit was the earliest in her first twelve appearances at the Open, a run which had included two titles, two runner-ups, four semifinals, two quarterfinals and two Round of 16 finishes. The exit also meant Williams failed to reach the QF at any major in a season for the first time in her career (she wouldn't reach the second week of another major until 2015), and her ranking fell from #36 to #105. She'd started the season at #5, and hadn't ranked outside the Top 100 since 1997.
Williams didn't play another match that season (in all, she had just eleven in the '11 season), and wouldn't again until March of 2012.
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With a 5.8 earthquake hitting the U.S. east coast a week before the start of play at Flushing Meadows (somewhat famously, and hardly surprisingly, Jelena Jankovic had been on court playing Elena Vesnina in New Haven at the time), and Hurricane Irene coming ashore on the tournament's eve (the grounds were closed by the USTA on Saturday), one somewhat expected weird things to happen once play began.
The notion wasn't wrong.
Right out of the gate, with the Australian Open champ (Clijsters) already having pulled out of the event, the reigning Roland Garros (Li Na) and Wimbledon (Petra Kvitova) champs lost in the 1st Round in New York for the first time ever.
Both lost to Romanians, as #5 Kvitova (w/ 52 unforced errors and a 49% First Serve percentage) was the first seed ousted, upset by Alexandra Dulgheru 7-6/6-3, while #6 Li (50 UE) fell to Simona Halep 6-2/7-5. It was future #1 and multi-slam winner Halep's first U.S. Open win, and the first Top 10 win of her career.
Draw notes:
* - in her first U.S. Open MD appearance, 18-year old Sloane Stephens survived a 1st Round match in which Reka-Luca Jani twice served for the match (and held a mini-break lead in a 3rd set TB) to record her first career win at a major, then upset #23 seed Shahar Peer. Stephens lost in the 3rd Round to Ana Ivanovic.
Meanwhile, 16-year old Madison Keys made her slam MD debut after earning her way in by having won the USTA's Wild Card Tournament. She defeated veteran Jill Craybas in the 1st Round, then lost a round later to #27 Lucie Safarova in three sets. Keys had led the match 6-3/2-1, and was serving up 4-3 in the 3rd. Keys, as the #12 seed, lost in the 2nd Round in the junior competition to Canada's Francoise Abanda.
Six years later, good friends Stephens and Keys would face off in the women's singles final at Flushing Meadows.
* - in the 1st Round, #12 Aga Radwanska defeated her sister Urszula, who'd reached the MD after making her way through qualifying. Aga won 6-2/6-3 in the sisters' only match-up in slam competition, and the third of just four meetings in tour-level competition in their careers. They played against one another for the final time in Sydney in January 2012, and never again until Aga's retirement after the 2018 season.
* - Italian Flavia Pennetta (#26) reached the QF for the third time in four years, following up a win over #3 Maria Sharapova with another in the Round of 16 over #13 Peng Shuai.
Against Peng, Pennetta battled sickness in the humid conditions and nearly vomited on court. After failing to close out the match when serving up 6-4/6-5, 30/love Pennetta fell behind 5-0 and 6-2 in the 2nd set TB, but saved four SP and won 8-6 to close out the match in two sets when Peng committed a volley error.
Pennetta lost in the quarters to Angelique Kerber, but would carry her New York momentum through the rest of her playing career during the decade. From 2008-15, she went 30-6 in U.S. Open play, posting six of her seven career QF+ results in majors, and ended her slam career by winning the women's title in 2015.
* - Sania Mirza, who'd put on a star-making Round of 16 run in her 2005 debut at age 18, made her last U.S. Open appearance in women's singles, losing to Shahar Peer.
As it turned out, the Indian's 4th Round result in '05 had been a one-time thing, her only such singles result in her slam career. With her 1st Round U.S. exit in '11 (as well as in the '12 AO), Mirza went 15-22 in slam singles play after her initial 6-4 campaign in the 2005 majors.
A doubles specialist the rest of her playing days, Mirza went on to carry out what is arguably (or could eventually be) a Hall of Fame career. While setting all sorts of tennis marks for a woman from her nation, Mirza has won three WD slams (incl. U.S. '15), three MX crowns (U.S. '14), two WTA Finals, and five Premier Mandatory crowns. In all, she's totaled 41 WTA doubles titles (to go along with one singles crown in '05), reached eleven slam WD/MX finals and was the first Indian woman ranked #1 when she moved atop the doubles rankings in April 2015.
Mirza took a break from the tour to have a baby in 2018, but is edging close to a return as the 2019 season nears its end. When she does return, she'll once again be two specific titles away from essentially locking up a HoF berth. She needs only a RG women's doubles title to complete a Career Doubles Slam, and the MX at Wimbledon to do the same in the other doubles discipline.
* - in a spirited 2nd Round clash during which she seemed to channel the likes of Open crowd favorite Jimmy Connors, the U.S.'s Irina Falconi upset #14 Dominika Cibulkova, rallying from a 4-1, double-break deficit in the 3rd set. In a match moved to Ashe Stadium from Court 11 after the cancelation of the Venus Williams (w/d) match, Cibulkova twice served for the win at 5-4 and 6-5.
* - in a 2nd Round rematch of the 2010 U.S. Open 2nd Rounder during which Victoria Azarenka collapsed just seven games into play, Azarenka this time defeated Gisela Dulko 6-4/6-3.
While Azarenka would lose a round later to Serena Williams, she'd win the next two Australian Opens *and* reach the next two U.S. Open finals during the best stretch of her career. In a 10-slam stretch from mid-2011 until the end of '13, Azarenka reached four slam finals (2-2), three other major semis, held the #1 ranking for 51 weeks, and won two Olympic medals ('12 MX Gold and singles Bronze). From 2014 until the start of the '19 U.S. Open, she's yet to reach another semi in a slam event.
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After coming back from match point down to win the Open doubles title a year earlier, Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova found out how the other half lives in 2011 at Flushing Meadows. They didn't have a match point against Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the doubles final, but they did lead 6-4/5-3 and served at 5-4 for their third major crown in five slams entered as a team. Huber & Raymond ended up winning the match 4-6/7-6/7-6, giving Huber her first slam WD crown since her break-up with partner Cara Black, while it was 38-year old Raymond's first major title of any kind since 2006 and gave her U.S. Open championship runs in three different decades (w/ '96 MX, '01 WD/'02 MX/'05 WD).
While 19-year old 2009 quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin's days of singles success in majors had already become a thing of the past (whether she knew it or not), the Georgie native produced arguably her *best* career moment in the '11 MX competition, teaming with Jack Sock to win the only major title of her career while defeating top seeds (and defending champs) Huber & Bob Bryan in the 2nd Round, then Gisela Dulko & Eduardo Schwank in the final. Oudin and her various playing partners never won more than one match in any of the other 23 WD/MX slam draws in which she appeared in her career.
In the juniors, Grace Min defeated #1-seed Caroline Garcia 7-5/7-6 in the final to become (with Coco Vandeweghe in '08) just the second Bannerette to win the U.S. Open's junior title since 1995. She also defeated the #2 seed, Irina Khromacheva, in the 2nd Round.
The junior defending champ, Dasha Gavrilova, had lost in the 2nd Round to the U.S.'s Vicky Duval, who'd be taken out by Garcia in the quarterfinals. The Pasty defeated #3-seed Ash Barty in the semis to reach the final. Min's semifinal opponent was qualifier Nicole Gibbs, who'd upset #4 Genie Bouchard, wild card Taylor Townsend and #6 Yulia Putintseva (the '10 U.S. girls runner-up) to reach the final four. Gibbs would go on to become a two-time NCAA women's singles champ at Stanford in 2012-13.
Demi Schuurs & Khromacheva (NED/RUS) defeated the all-U.S. duo of Gaby Andrews & Townsend to win the girls doubles. The title run was Schuurs second at a major in 2011, as the Dutch teen had reached all four junior slam finals that season while playing with four different partners: An-Sophie Mestach (AO W), Victoria Kan (RG RU), Tang Hao-chen (WI RU) and Khromacheva.
For Khromacheva, it was her second '11 junior doubles slam win, following her RG title run with Maryna Zanevska. Over a nearly two-year stretch in 2010-12, Khromacheva would reach five major GD finals (as well as in the '11 Wimbledon girls singles) with five different partners, winning three.
In the final U.S. Open appearance (she continued to play through the summer of '12, but there was no U.S. Open wheelchair competition due to the Paralympics), Esther Vergeer completed her sixth sweep of the singles and doubles titles at Flushing Meadows, maintaining her career-long undefeated record in the event. Along with a 6-2/6-1 win over Dutch countrywoman Aniek Van Koot in the singles final, she teamed with Sharon Walraven to defeat Van Koot & Jiske Griffioen in three sets to claim the four-Dutch-strong doubles championship match.
Vergeer finished 18-0 in singles and 12-0 in doubles in U.S. Open play, winning all 36 of her singles sets and 22 of 23 in doubles.
CITY SIGHTS:
Bethanie Mattek-Sands' stars-and-stripes socks...
Venus Williams' EleVen version of "the little black dress" (w/ white lace)...
Queen Latifah during the 9/11 10th anniversary commemoration ceremony...
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I guess, in the end, this U.S. Open secretly "belonged" to Samantha Stosur all along.
After all, for the past two weeks in New York, the 26-year old Aussie, even while playing second fiddle to other top players when it came to court assignments and media attention that seemingly fated her to be a footnote at this slam, STILL managed to be involved in some of the biggest moments of the tournament. In the 3rd Round, she won the longest-ever women's match at the U.S. Open, then was a part of a women's slam record-breaking 32-point tie-break in the Round of 16 (naturally, even while winning the match, she lost the TB that had made the contest memorable). Come semifinal time, she found herself on the Grandstand court rather than on the grounds' biggest stage. She didn't like it, but no one ever said the Road to New York was going to be easy. Nothing is ever easy for Slingin' Sammy Stosur.
Turns out, she was saving the best for last when she faced off with Serena Williams, the woman who'd entered the Open as the nearly-unanimous odds-on favorite to take the crown. While Sunday afternoon's final was about wrapping up some unfinished slam business from a season ago for Stosur, as she finally played the slam final that she'd failed to in her previous major final in Paris last year, for Serena, well... when someone figures out exactly what Williams' angle was on this day, hopefully they'll be kind enough to fill the rest of us in on the secret.
After dominating opponents on hard court all season, winning all eighteen matches she played after coming back from a nearly year-long health-related absence, Williams didn't have her legs in this match. Or her serve. Or her forehand. Or her composure. Stosur, though, had all HER weapons -- the big kick-serve and forehand prowess, as well as the volley of a former #1 doubles player -- and more, namely the long-in-coming ability to put her head down and avoid losing her nerve. It was a lethal combination that even Serena wasn't able to overcome, save for a brief period early in the 2nd set. In the end, when Stosur pounded a forehand winner on match point to nip Williams in the final total winner numbers (20-19), the fact was that the Aussie's 6-2/6-3 victory, the seventeenth consecutive straights sets women's final at the Open, was hardly that close.
Stosur's point streak hit thirteen before it finally ended with a forehand error off the net cord, but a winner off a Williams second gave Stosur two more chances to break in the opening game of the 2nd set. Serena erased one chance with an ace, then finally discovered the one thing that could (briefly) break her free of her gameday lethargy -- anger. After smacking a big forehand that appeared to be about to become a winner, Williams let out a celebratory howl. Thing is, she did it before Stosur was able to completely make a play on the ball. When she got her racket on Williams' shot, Serena's celebration was thwarted when chair umpire Eva Azderaki pointed to the "intentional hinderance" rule to award the point to Stosur. Rather than being deuce, the Aussie got the break to lead 1-0.
And Serena was having none of it. Not being fully aware of the rules (Azderaki's move was the correct one, according to the sport's guidelines), Williams immediately launched into the umpire for her "wrong" decision, calling her actions, among other things, "totally not cool." No one watching could avoid, even in some small way, making the connection to the big scene Serena was involved in the '09 Open semifinals, when a foot-fault call led to a point-penalty on match point and a controversy that still lingers in the air, if only because the sincerity of Williams' contrition is easy for many to question. Williams didn't threaten to shove any tennis balls in any areas in which they shouldn't go this time around, after all.
Serena did use her newly-peeved attitude to pump up herself and her play, though, stoking the crowd and leading observers to believe that the championship would turn on that one moment. Williams, perhaps trying for the starring role in "Mad Serena Beyond Thunderdome," quickly went up 40/love on a rattled Stosur's serve. The Aussie got her act together in time to win a beautiful exchange of eye-to-eye volleys to save one break point. Serena still got the break of serve for 1-1, but Stosur had managed to throw herself a lifeline at the most important moment in the important match of her career.
Williams held for 2-1, then carried over her displeasure to -- and through -- the changeover. Berating Azderaki throughout, but not involving her in any direct discussion (she implored her to not even look at her, even if they passed each other in the hallway), and going on about her not being able to express herself and, last time she checked, still being an American and having the right to do so. It wasn't exactly a mature, admirable moment in Williams' career, but it would have been looked upon as the "fire of a champion" had she been able to maintain her level of pique while continuing to raise the level of her game, as well.
But that didn't happen.
When the Aussie led 5-3, and was up 40/15 on the Williams serve, Serena managed to save two match points, but it was too little too late. Stosur's forehand winner (#20) officially ended things, making her 2011's fourth different slam champion, and third different first-time slam major winner.
As sterling as Stosur's afternoon was, it was even more unexpected, and not just because Williams was figured to be ready to romp (even after the late finish of her semifinal victory over Caroline Wozniacki Saturday night), with possibly the Aussie being able to (maybe) make things close. While Serena had starred on the sport's biggest stages, Stosur had usually wilted under the weight of the attention and expectations that come with such circumstances. But THAT Stosur wasn't on Ashe court in the final, just as she wasn't in New York the past two weeks. The "old" Sammy would have folded in the face of Serena's would-be onslaught in the 2nd set, but the "older" Sam, once she took a step back to regain her bearings, was having none of it. That "wrist message" she left herself a while back -- "attitude" and "composure" -- must still be lingering somewhere inside her head.
Displaying strength where there once was weakness -- between the ears -- the Aussie never allowed the aura of Williams to intimidate her, nor the thirteen-time slam winner's induced-by-anger moments to overwhelm and wash away all that she'd worked so hard to turn in her favor. Instead, she allowed herself to play HER game, not Serena's, unlike all the other players Williams has dominated in NYC and points west over the last two months. She didn't struggle to hold her serve in the early going, preventing Williams from racing to an early, suffocating lead. With Serena failing to gain momentum from the outset, and her groundstrokes lacking the usual penetration that she's used to prevent opponents from seizing control of rallies, Stosur wasn't pressured to deviate from her original, preferred gameplan. Not wanting to be pushed off the court ala Wozniacki one night before, Stosur wasn't afraid to step in and cut off Williams' groundstrokes. It not only kept her forehand "in play," but she was able to wield it like a deadly weapon to pulverize Serena all day as Williams oddly never found a way to alleviate its potency by attacking the Aussie's weaker backhand wing. Essentially, Stosur did exactly what she did while defeating both Williams and Justine Henin on the clay at Roland Garros in '10, but then proceeded to NOT do against Francesca Schiavone in her maiden slam final.
So, given a second chance on the big stage, Stosur didn't waste her opportunity once again. It's something of a pattern in Stosur's career, where "practice has made perfect"... even if it takes her a bit longer to get where she desires. ...Stosur went 0-5 in tour finals over four seasons before finally raising her first singles trophy in '09 at age 24. Stosur had to become a #1 doubles player first, THEN get her singles footing. She had to fail in big moments, and see her tennis future possibly flash before her eyes when she lost parts of two seasons to Lyme Disease in 2007-08. ...It took Stosur thirty-four (slam appearances), the third-longest "training period" in WTA history for a major champion.
But none of that matters now. For one day on Ashe court in New York, Stosur was THE best player in the world. Just like Australia's thirty-one year drought of women's slam champs, and thirty-eight year absence of a female U.S. Open winner, anything troubling that came before was all washed away on one afternoon.
One brilliant afternoon, that is.
* - "I just remember that I lost, and that was that. I got really popular, a lot of people were telling me I was, like, super cool, that they never saw me so intense." - Serena Williams, recalling her last appearance at the U.S. Open in 2009, which included her being defaulted on MP from her SF match vs. Kim Clijsters after threatening to kill a lineswoman after she called her for a foot fault
* - "In kindergarten, I sang 'Peanut Butter Jelly" in a talent show and I was amazing." - Sloane Stephens, on a childhood memory
* - "For me as a person, I'm not feeling different (than) before Wimbledon. But I know people recognize me, and everything around me is a little different... I don't like too much the attention, (but) it's important for the WTA, the tournament and for everybody." - reigning Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova
* - "We were in America last time I checked. ...Don't look at me! ...If we're ever walking down the street, stay on the other side. You're totally out of control. You're a hater and you're unattractive inside. What a loser... And I don't complain." - Serena Williams, berating chair umpire Eva Asderaki during a changeover in the final after she'd called her for a "hindrance" violation and awarded a point to Sam Stosur after Williams had yelled "Come on!" in exultation in the middle of a point believing that she'd hit a winner
* - "The chair umpire made a correct call under the intentional hindrance rule." - tournament referee Brian Earley
* - "My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire." - Serena Williams, post-final (via Twitter)
* - "I think I had one of my best days. I was very fortunate to be able to do it on this stage in New York. I've been dreaming about this since I was 10, since I knew what a grand slam was. I do want to say, Serena, you are a great player and a fantastic champion and you have done wonders for our sport." - Samantha Stosur
* - "That's everything you would ever want to do in a moment like that. I couldn't have dreamed of playing a better match." - Samantha Stosur
