Deja Vu: Similarities between US Opens 2009 and 2010
At the 2010 US Open, observant eyes noticed that there were several parallel points between the US Open tournament held last year in 2009 and the one held this year.
- In 2009, a young American professional player, Melanie Oudin, made an appearance at the US Open; she was not very popular as a player, lacking recognition in the tennis arena. That year’s US Open had been her first Grand Slam at the New York stadium. She managed to upset players such as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova, before being upset by 19 year old Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter finals. This year, another young American tennis player who was almost entirely unheard of participated in the 2010 US Open; this player was Beatrice "Trice" Capra. The 18 year old tennis pro was granted a wild card entry to this tournament, which was her first Grand Slam. She defeated Karolina Sprem (her first top 100 victory), Aravane Rezai (her first top 20 win), before she was defeated by Maria Sharapova in the third round.
- Roger Federer executed a flawless in between the legs shot in the 2009 US Open semi finals in his match against Novak Djokovic, who was ultimately defeated. He repeated this trick shot again in the first round of the 2010 US Open in his match against Brian Dabul, driving fans wild with excitement.
- Blonde players seem to be dominating the forefront of women’s tennis, with Caroline Wozniacki being the top seed at the 2010 US Open tournament. Kim Clijsters was also one of the blonde favourites to win the tournament, and she did not disappoint with her victory over seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, also a blonde. The same players made a mark for themselves at last year’s tournament.
- In both US Opens, Scottish tennis player Andy Murray suffered defeats within the first four rounds, appearing listless and weary. In 2009, he defeated Ernests Gulbis, Paul Capdeville and Taylor Dent before the fourth round. His defeat was due to a wrist injury, causing him to lose to Marin Cilic in straight sets. This year, the 23 year old upset Lukas Lacko in the first set and Dustin Brown in the second, with easy grace and no indication of his former difficulties. However, in the third set, Murray lost to Stanislas Wawrinka, bowing out of the match in four sets. Questions about his fitness have been asked since then.
- In 2009, there were six native Spanish speakers who advanced to the round of the last 16. These players were Tommy Robredo, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Carlos Ferrero. This unlikely number was repeated again in the 2010 US Open, where six native Spanish speakers Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo and Albert Montanes once again made it to the last 16 of the tournament.
- Anna Wintour, editor in chief of the American Vogue, once again showed up at the US Open tournament to support Roger Federer in his own box. Interestingly enough, she also wore the same dress she wore to his final in 2008, the year in which Federer had his last US Open win. However this was not enough to guarantee him a victory, with Novak Djokovic defeating him in the semi finals.
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