To commentator Nick Lester, the fifth-set tiebreak, a US Open exclusive, resembles Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, or any other piece of classical music that builds up to and delivers a stirring crescendo.
Lester, who's from England, has commentated at two Australian Opens, six editions of Roland-Garros, 13 Wimbledons and eight US Opens, in addition to hundreds of other tournaments during the past 15 years. But to him, no other atmosphere compares to the start of a fifth-set tiebreak at the US Open.
“The buildup of emotion to get there is so huge because everybody knows what potentially could be coming. That is what I love about it,” Lester told USOpen.org. “It's a bit like a great orchestral piece of music: It takes a slow buildup sometimes, but then you have a rousing end.”
Amidst talk of other Grand Slams, namely Wimbledon, adopting the fifth-set tiebreak, or at least changing their current fifth-set endings, USOpen.org looks back at five of the best US Open matches that have ended with the Flushing favorite:
Novak Djokovic d. Radek Stepanek, 2007 Second Round, 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6
Novak Djokovic, now a two-time US Open champion, was only 20 at the time, and fans inside Louis Armstrong Stadium were still just getting to know the Serbian. But Djokovic and Czech Radek Stepanek, already a veteran, were keen on finding every advantage they could in the match. “Both were so engaging with the crowd,” Lester remembered.
In a match that featured 104 rallies of more than eight shots, the third-seeded Djokovic prevailed after four hours and 41 minutes, en route to his first US Open final (l. to Federer). Four years later, he'd claim his first Flushing Meadows title.
Rafael Nadal d. Dominic Thiem, 2018 Quarterfinal, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6
Dominic Thiem delivered the perfect set to start, but Rafael Nadal didn't panic, and an instant classic ensued as the two clobbered forehands and backhands for nearly five hours. Nadal, however, dismissed Thiem in their first hard-court meeting to reach the semifinals.
But Thiem, who's beaten Nadal on clay, showed the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd and the world that he has the fight and the game to match Rafa on hard courts.
“It's going to be stuck in my mind forever,” Thiem said. “It's cruel sometimes, tennis, you know, because I think this match didn't really deserve a loser. But there has to be one.”
READ MORE: Nadal beats Thiem in marathon battle
John Isner d. Andy Roddick, 2009 Third Round, 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6
Andy Roddick was the top American. During his previous three US Opens, he had made the final (2006, l. to Federer) and two quarterfinals (2007, l. to Federer; 2008, l. to Djokovic). Roddick was also fresh off his epic 2009 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, which the Swiss won, 16-14, in the fifth.
But 55th-ranked John Isner was the new American in Flushing, and he made his presence known by hitting 38 aces and upsetting the fifth seed.
It was only Isner's third US Open, and he has since reached two of his three Grand Slam quarterfinals (2011, 2018) in Queens. “It's obviously, hands down, the biggest win of my career. Nothing even compares. To do it at the stage I did it on is pretty spectacular,” Isner said at the time.
Andre Agassi d. James Blake, 2005 Quarterfinal, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6
Andre Agassi, at 35, was doing his best 1991 Jimmy Connors impersonation. The two-time US Open champion fell behind two sets to love against Blake, who was then 25 and would go on to reach a career-high of No. 4 in the ATP Rankings the following year. Blake served for the match at 5-4 in the fifth, but Agassi, with 20,000 fans cheering him on at 1 AM, won his first US Open fifth-set tiebreak.
“I don't know if I've ever felt this good here before,” Agassi said. “For 20,000 people to still be here, I wasn't the winner, tennis was.”
Agassi then went on to become the oldest man in the US Open semifinals since 39-year-old Jimmy Connors, in 1991.
READ MORE: Three of the most memorable US Open matches to finish after midnight
Jimmy Connors d. Aaron Krickstein, 1991 Fourth Round, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6
Maybe no one is more pleased that Arthur Ashe Stadium has a roof than Aaron Krickstein. Because, for years, every time rain would delay matches during the pre-roof days, CBS would show the classic Connors-Krickstein match, in which Connors, on his 39th birthday, came back from a two-sets-to-one deficit and 2-5 in the fifth to beat his 24-year-old compatriot.
Connors, who was ranked No. 174 at the time, was his vintage self, rallying the crowd and creating magic one more time in Queens. He'd go on to reach the semifinals before falling to No. 5 Jim Courier. The next year, Connors would try to re-create the run but, during his final US Open, he fell to Ivan Lendl in the second round.
READ MORE: 50 Moments That Mattered: Connors' incredible 1991 semifinal run
