U.S. Open Tennis Championship History; Last Ten Years
Tennis has come a long way in America and it has a big name in American sports. If we turn pages of history, this sport has grown immensely. It is inarguably considered the best sport in the country and it is openly accepted as a major activity.
United States Open tennis Championship is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments which held throughout the season. The four major tournaments are; Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open championship.
All these major tournaments hold extreme importance as they play a vital role in placing the players at different ranks, rewarding them with the prize money, and most of all for the communal interest. To become a Grand Slam champion, a single player or doubles squad has to succeed in all four Grand Slam tournaments. For this obvious reason each of the Grand tournaments has equal importance. U.S. Open Championship comes at the fourth spot and is the last activity in the succession of game in one year’s time.
U.S. Open was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. It is the same venue which is currently used for the one week championship called Campbell Hall of Fame Tournament.
U.S. Open is a two-week event which is organised in August and September every year. The main tournament has different stages and five championships are covered in this event. It features the Single match for both Men and Women. Doubles match for both genders and one prominent feature of this tournament is the special episode for senior, junior and handicapped players.
Back in the day, this tournament was started at the grass courts of Newport, Rhode Island but now it has a different venue. It’s been played at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Queens, New York City since 1987. For the match play in U.S. Open, a surface called Deco Turf is used. It is different from the court surfaces used in other Grand Slam tournaments. In U.S. Open the court is hard and the speed on Deco Turf is almost half the speed of Wimbledon’s swift grass and slow clay of French Open.
In the last ten years, there has been a lot activity regarding US. Open tournament. The records have been broken, new players have been introduced in the game and it has added more spark and thrill into the game.
In the year 2000, Pete Sampras of US and Russian tennis idol Marat Safin were head-to-head in the final match. Unfortunately Pete Sampras couldn’t overcome the potential risk of losing the game and got the runner up position. Safin happened to be the youngest player to win the title. It was Sampras’ third defeat in sixteen Grand Slam finals.
In the following year, Pete Sampras was in the finals again. History was repeated and he lost the match against Lleyton Hewitt. The 20 years Australian player took the US. Open trophy home. In 2002, the final contest was a bit different than the previous two years. Both the American players were in the court. Sampras learned a lot from his last experience and got his grip on the US Open title by defeating Andre Agassi.
Andy Roddick, the American star hoisted winner’s trophy in 2003. He defeated the Spanish Juan Carlos Ferrero.
For the next five years, there was just one name revolving around the world of tennis and it was none other than the king of tennis, Roger Federer. He remained unbeaten in the finals of the US. Open championship for consecutive five years. Roger was off the charts in 2009 when Argentinean player Juan Martin De Potro outplayed him in the final match.
This year the US Open Championship is scheduled to start in August. It will be a great chance for the players to bring their best talents on the court and mark their name on the winners’ board.
My guess is Nadal will be the shining star this year to add onto the history of the US. Open Championship, what do you think?
Tags: