ON THIS DAY IN US OPEN HISTORY
1975 – In one of the biggest upsets in US Open history, Manuel Orantes upends No. 1 seeded Jimmy Connors in straight sets to win the 1975 US Open.
1986 – It’s an all-Czech day at the US Open, as all four singles finalists are Czechoslovakian-born. Ivan Lendl, a Czech living in Greenwich, Conn., defeats Miloslav Mecir for the men’s title, while Martina Navratilova, a Czech who becomes a U.S. citizen, defeats Helena Sukova for the women’s crown.
1997 – The first two US Open singles finals are played on the new Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sixteen-year-old Martina Hingis and 17-year-old Venus Williams play the youngest Grand Slam final in the Open era, with Hingis winning her first US Open title by a 6-0, 6-4 margin. Patrick Rafter outduels Greg Rusedski, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, to win the men’s crown.
2002 – For the second consecutive year, Venus and Serena Williams meet in a prime-time US Open women’s singles final. However, unlike 2001, younger sister Serena comes out on top in this one, defeating the two-time defending champion, 6-4, 6-3, to win her second US Open women’s singles title.
2003 – Andy Roddick wins his first Grand Slam tournament title, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in the men’s singles final.
2014 – Serena Williams cements her place in tennis history by defeating a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-3, in the women’s singles final. The victory is Williams’ sixth US Open title, tying Chris Evert for the most in the Open era. In the men’s doubles final held earlier that day, twins Bob and Mike Bryan make history of their own, defeating Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, to win their fifth US Open men’s doubles title and an unprecedented 100th men’s doubles title as a team.
THEY SAID IT!!!
“I mean, we're both prepared. We both know the draw, so we are both prepared to play each other.”
Venus Williams on her upcoming match with her sister, Serena Williams
“I just feel more relaxed, I'd say. Could have been more pressure, and luckily I was able to control it and to find good tennis. Yeah, just feeling really, really good on the court. I'm feeling that now, even this match, I'm hitting the ball better, serving much, much better, and that gives me really good confidence for the upcoming matches.”
Marin Cilic on if he’s enjoyed playing the US Open as the defending champion
“I haven't really felt a lot of pressure. Only in that second round; for whatever reason, I got tight. The whole tournament I've been really kind of rather relaxed. I don't really feel like if I win this tournament it's going to make or break my career.”
Serena Williams on staying relaxed throughout the tournament
A Look Back at Past Decades: The '90s
1990 – At the age of 19 years and 28 days, Pete Sampras becomes the youngest US Open men’s singles champion, defeating Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in the final. The 12th-seeded Sampras is also the lowest men’s seed to win the US Open (Mal Anderson in 1957 and Fred Stolle in 1966 were unseeded champions). The Sampras-Agassi final is the first All-American final since John McEnroe defeated Vitas Gerulaitis for the 1979 title.
1991 – Wild-card entrant Jimmy Connors, ranked No. 174 and 39 years old, makes a stunning run to the semifinals. Connors, a five-time US Open champion, comes back from a two-set deficit to defeat Patrick McEnroe in the first round, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in a four hour, 35-five minute match that ends at 1:30 a.m. On his 39th birthday, Connors defeats Aaron Krickstein, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6, in the fourth round. Jim Courier ends Connors’ run in the semifinals by a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 margin but is defeated in the final by Stefan Edberg, who claims his first US Open singles title and becomes the first player since Mal Anderson in 1957 to win the U.S. Championships the year after losing in the first round.
1992 – Stefan Edberg wins three straight five-set matches to reach the singles final, where he dispatches 1990 US Open champion Pete Sampras in the first US Open final featuring the last two men’s champions since 1947. En route to the final, Edberg comes back from fifth-set deficits against Richard Krajicek in the round of 16, Ivan Lendl in the quarterfinals and Michael Chang in the semifinals. Edberg’s 6-7, 7-5, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Chang lasts five hours, 26 minutes in what is believed to be the longest match in US Open history.
1993 – The USTA celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first US Open and the 15th anniversary of the US Open’s move from West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills to the USTA National Tennis Center, as second-seeded Pete Sampras collects his second US Open title by defeating upstart Frenchman Cedric Pioline in the men’s singles final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
1994 – Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario rebounds after losing the first set in 22 minutes to win her first US Open women’s singles crown by defeating Steffi Graf, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4. Sanchez-Vicario, the first Spanish woman to win the US Open title, also teams with Jana Novotna to win the women’s doubles title.
1995 – Playing in only her second tournament since she was stabbed in April 1993, Monica Seles roars into the women’s singles final, where she and long-time rival Steffi Graf play one of the most memorable singles finals in the history of the tournament. Despite losing the second set, 6-0, Graf wins her fourth US Open title and her 18th career Grand Slam title with a 7-6, 0-6, 6-3 victory.
1996 – With the No. 1 ranking at stake for the men’s winner, top-seeded Pete Sampras, three days after throwing up on court because of extreme dehydration and fatigue against Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals, subdues second-seeded Michael Chang in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3), to win his fourth men’s singles crown.
1997 – By the score of 6-0, 6-4, Martina Hingis of Switzerland wins her first U.S. women’s singles title at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days, the second-youngest woman to do so. In the youngest Grand Slam tournament final of the Open era, she defeats 17-year-old American Venus Williams, the first US Open debut finalist since Pam Shriver in 1978, the first black finalist since Arthur Ashe in 1972, the first unseeded women’s finalist since Darlene Hard in 1958 and the first black woman in a final since Althea Gibson defeated Hard that same year.
1998 – Lindsay Davenport becomes the first U.S.-born woman to capture the US Open women’s singles title in 16 years, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5, in the final.
1999 – The rededication of Louis Armstrong Stadium, formerly the main stadium before the construction of Arthur Ashe, marks the completion of the $285 million USTA National Tennis Center expansion project, which spanned the terms of six USTA presidents.
