adminNEW YORK. — A new roof was all the rage when the US Open began two weeks ago but it was the crowning of a new world number one and two first-time champions that left their mark on a tennis tournament that came to an emotional close on Sunday with a tribute to victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
At a tournament where trainers had nearly as much court time as weary players, Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka were the last two standing in their respective draws as they each captured their first US Open titles.
Wawrinka played with energy and desire as he tamed defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in a victory that was a testament to his will as much as skill and earned him his third grand slam title.
Djokovic, contesting his sixth US Open final in seven years, benefited from one of the easiest passages to a grand slam final as he was handed a walkover and two retirements but it was the Serb who was ultimately worn down by Wawrinka.
The nine hours Djokovic spent on court to reach the final were half the 18 hours logged by the battle-hardened 31-year-old Wawrinka, who added a US Open title to a grand slam collection that also includes French Open and Australian Open trophies.
Kerber, another player with a deep well of stamina, tapped into those reserves on a sweltering Arthur Ashe Stadium court to defuse big-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to capture her second grand slam title. And while Kerber may be a new US champion, the 28-year-old German is hardly a new face in the world of tennis.
She has become one of the game’s most recognisable figures in a season that has included an Australian Open triumph, a run to the Wimbledon final, an Olympic silver medal in singles and ending Serena Williams’ 186-week reign as world number one. While the buzz at the start of the US Open was about the $150 million retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was the Flushing Meadows wall that Williams ran into for a second consecutive straight year that drew the most attention.
A year ago, on the cusp of a rare calendar-year Grand Slam, Williams was felled by 300-to-1 longshot Roberta Vinci.
This year her quest for a record-breaking seventh US Open title was again undone in the semis, this time by Pliskova, who arrived at Flushing Meadows as a Grand Slam underachiever who had never been beyond the third round of any major.
Flushing Meadows did not exactly witness a passing of the torch this year but the winds of change did blow through the Billie Jean Tennis Centre. — Reuters.
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