2009 US Open (tennis)
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The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009, in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the men's singles final match on Sunday, September 13, but due to rain the tournament was extended by one day. Like the Australian Open, the tournament featured night matches.
Former World No. 1 and 2005 US Open women's singles champion, Kim Clijsters, competed in the 2009 US Open[1] after being granted a wild card entry, returning to professional tennis after more than two years of retirement. She made it to the women's singles semi-finals, where she knocked out the defending champion Serena Williams in controversial circumstances. In the final, Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki, the first Dane, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, in straight sets: 7–5, 6–3. Clijsters thus became the first mother to win a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. In the process, she also became the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament.
In the men's singles final, five-time defending champion Roger Federer lost to Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro in a match lasting over four hours.
Arthur Ashe Kids' Day[edit]
The Arthur Ashe Kids' Day was held on August 29, 2009, prior to the start of the tournament. It featured an exhibition tennis match involving American player Andy Roddick and Great Britain's Andy Murray, who were joined by actor and comedian Will Ferrell. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks performed her hit single "Battlefield", along with rising stars Honor Society and Justin Bieber. There were also tennis matches and contests featuring Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, and James Blake. The popular tennis and music festival, which included interactive games, musical entertainment and tennis clinics, was hosted by television personalities Susie Castillo and Quddus.[2]
Singles players[edit]
 |
Player of the day[edit]
- Day 1:
Kim Clijsters, for winning her first match at the US Open in 4 years.[3] - Day 2:
Jesse Witten, for defeating 29th-seeded 
Igor Andreev 6–4, 6–0, 6–2 his first career win at a Grand Slam at the age of 26 and ranked 276.[4] - Day 3:
Flavia Pennetta, for defeating 
Sania Mirza 6–0, 6–0, which was her third consecutive 6–0 set.[5] - Day 4: Melanie Oudin, ranked 70th, for eliminating world #4 Elena Dementieva, after losing the first set and overcoming a thigh injury to win the final set.[6]
- Day 5: Francesca Schiavone, for defeating #8 seed
Victoria Azarenka despite losing the first set.[7] - Day 6: Melanie Oudin, for defeating former world #1 and the 29th seed Maria Sharapova, losing the first set and winning 7–5 in the third.[8]
- Day 7:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, For reaching the round of 16 for the first time, and for not dropping a set to this point.[9] - Day 8:
Kateryna Bondarenko, for beating 
Gisela Dulko in only 47 minutes 6–0, 6–0, advancing to her first grand slam quarterfinal.[10] - Day 9:
Marin Čilić, for defeating ATP No. 2 
Andy Murray in three sets.[11] - Day 10: Yanina Wickmayer, for defeating Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets and becoming the second Belgian player in the semifinals.[12]
- Day 11: Juan Martín del Potro, for defeating Marin Čilić in four sets to advance to the semifinals of the US Open for the first time.[13]
- Day 12: No matches played due to rain.
- Day 13:
Caroline Wozniacki, for beating Yanina Wickmayer 6–3, 6–3 in the semifinals, thus becoming the first Dane, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.[14] - Day 14:
Roger Federer, for beating 
Novak Djokovic in the semifinals 7–6(7–3), 7–5, 7–5, thus reaching his 21st Grand Slam and 6th consecutive US Open final.[15] - Day 15: Juan Martín del Potro, for winning his first Grand Slam title, ending Roger Federer's streak of consecutive US Open championships at five.[16]
Day-by-day summaries[edit]
Day 1 (August 31)[edit]
The first day of the tournaments saw many seeds get through pretty easily in straight sets: Roger Federer, James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Nikolay Davydenko and Radek Štěpánek. The day also produced a couple of upsets, when Mikhail Youzhny continued 26th seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu's horrible US Open record by beating him in four. While, tall American John Isner did the same to 28th seeded Victor Hănescu by ending the Romanian's 2009 bid in three with the second set going to a tie-break 16–14. The exciting day continued with a couple of five-set marathons, with Simon Greul defeating Giovanni Lapentti, Guillermo García López out-lasting Peter Polansky, and Jan Hernych surviving against Rainer Schüttler. The days last match featured America's hope Andy Roddick prevailing over Björn Phau in straight sets in a match that started at 11:00 pm.[17]
On the women's side, former world no. 1 Kim Clijsters opened the play, winning over Viktoriya Kutuzova losing only two games. Joining her were defending 2009 Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, Elena Vesnina, Agnieszka Radwańska, Li Na and Marion Bartoli who all won in two sets. Australian Samantha Stosur was pushed by veteran player Ai Sugiyama in three sets, Daniela Hantuchová got past American Meghann Shaughnessy in three as well. In the first night match, Venus Williams was able to claw her way to avoid an upset to win against Russian Vera Dushevina in a very close three-setter. Venus committed four foot faults in the match.[18] With Venus and Serena getting past the first round, a few American players saw success on the women's side with Vania King, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Jill Craybas getting to the second round. Austrian and 28th seeded Sybille Bammer, who defeated Serena Williams in Cincinnati, and 25th seeded Kaia Kanepi were the only casualties of the day.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: Paul-Henri Mathieu [26],
Victor Hănescu [28] - Women's singles:
Kaia Kanepi [25], 
Sybille Bammer [28]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 2 (September 1)[edit]
On the men's side, many seeded players got through in straight sets: 2008 US Open runner-up Andy Murray, 2008 Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic, Tomáš Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando González, and Fernando Verdasco. No. 30 seed Victor Troicki survived a five-set scare, 6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6, 6–1. However, some seeds failed to be as lucky and fell in the first round with Ivo Karlović falling to Iván Navarro and Igor Andreev falling to American Jesse Witten, both in straight sets, while Stan Wawrinka fell in five. American players were once again successful, with 5 out of the 11 getting past the first round: Sam Querrey, Kevin Kim, Jesse Witten, Jesse Levine, and Taylor Dent.
On the women's side, the first major upset of the tournament occurred with Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko upsetting 11th seed and former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic committed 50 unforced errors. In the second round, her sister Alona Bondarenko, 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova and Tathiana Garbin all advanced. Other seeded players that were eliminated in the first round were 32nd seed Ágnes Szávay, losing to Israeli Shahar Pe'er in straight sets, Alisa Kleybanova, losing to Petra Kvitová in three and Virginie Razzano losing to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. Day 2 was a good day for women American players with three out of five getting through: Melanie Oudin, Shenay Perry, and Christina McHale. However, world no. 1 Dinara Safina struggled in her match against Olivia Rogowska but manage to survive, winning in three sets[20]
On the doubles side, the day was led by 2nd seeded Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić, who won in straight sets, and the only seeds that were eliminated were No. 15 seed Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: Stan Wawrinka [19], Ivo Karlović [27], Igor Andreev [29]
- Women's singles: Ana Ivanovic [11], Virginie Razzano [16], Alisa Kleybanova [27],
Ágnes Szávay [32] - Men's doubles:
Stephen Huss / Ross Hutchins [15]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 3 (September 2)[edit]
The men's side saw Rafael Nadal playing his first match at the 2009 US Open and winning against his friend Richard Gasquet. He was joined by no. 1 seed Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Gaël Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Gilles Simon, who all won in straight sets, while David Ferrer, Nicolás Almagro and American Robby Ginepri won in 4. Joining them was Austrian Jürgen Melzer, who defeated Marat Safin in Safin's last Grand Slam match.[22]
On the women's side, upsets continued with Amélie Mauresmo falling to Aleksandra Wozniak, Anabel Medina Garrigues losing to Kirsten Flipkens, and dark horse favorite Australian Samantha Stosur losing to American Vania King,[23] all in straight sets, while Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwańska both fell to resurging players Kim Clijsters and Maria Kirilenko in three. However, the day also saw half of the seeds getting through easily and was led by former champion Venus Williams and Flavia Pennetta, who won in double bagel, Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Elena Vesnina, and Li Na. The day ended for the first time in over 30 years in the US Open history by a women's match, which saw Serena Williams dispatching Melinda Czink in just 53 minutes.[24]
On the doubles side, there were a couple of major upsets: sixth seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, fell in their opening round, as well as unseeded world no. 8 in doubles Lisa Raymond and her partner Shenay Perry.
- Seeds out:
- Women's singles:
Agnieszka Radwańska [12], Marion Bartoli [14], Samantha Stosur [15], Amélie Mauresmo [17], 
Anabel Medina Garrigues [20] - Men's doubles: Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Marcin Matkowski [6], Ashley Fisher / Jordan Kerr [14]
- Women's doubles: Raquel Kops-Jones / Abigail Spears [15]
- Women's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 4 (September 3)[edit]
Day 4 continued the success of the top men's seeds, with no. 4 seed Novak Djokovic dispatching Carsten Ball 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. He was joined by 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Söderling, 2009 French Open semifinalist Tommy Haas, 2009 Hamburg Open Champion Nikolay Davydenko, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Tommy Robredo. The Americans once again took advantage of their home court, with four of them winning their matches: James Blake surviving against Olivier Rochus in four, with Blake committing 53 unforced errors, John Isner, Jesse Witten, and Sam Querrey. Andy Roddick once again got through easily against Marc Gicquel 6–1, 6–4, 6–4. He produced 33 winners and only 10 unforced errors in the last match of the night.
The women's side received a lot of buzz, with 17-year-old American Melanie Oudin upsetting hot favorite and US Open Series champion Elena Dementieva in the second round. Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan upset last year's runner-up Jelena Janković in three sets.[26] Seeded players who joined Dementieva and Janković were Alona Bondarenko, who lost to Gisela Dulko, and Patty Schnyder, who lost in straight sets, while Sabine Lisicki lost in three to the last Australian and qualifier on the draw Anastasia Rodionova. No. 1 seed Dinara Safina once again survived a scare from Kristina Barrois, winning 6(5)–7, 6–2, 6–3. However, a few seeded players got through quite easily, led by Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova, and Danish player Caroline Wozniacki. Unseeded players who got through in straight sets were Kateryna Bondarenko, who eliminated Ivanovic, Shahar Pe'er, Sara Errani, and Petra Kvitová.
On the doubles side, it was the opposite, with all of the women's doubles seeds getting through. However, on the men's side, the highest seeded players who fell were no. 9 seeded Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach, losing to veteran doubles players Leoš Friedl and Jaroslav Levinský.
- Seeds out:
- Women's singles: Elena Dementieva [4], Jelena Janković [5], Patty Schnyder [19],
Sabine Lisicki [23], Alona Bondarenko [30] - Men's doubles: Łukasz Kubot / Oliver Marach [9],
Simon Aspelin / Paul Hanley [12], Travis Parrott / 
Filip Polášek [13]
- Women's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 5 (September 4)[edit]
The fifth day of the US Open saw many seeds struggle on the men's side, with no. 30 seed Viktor Troicki losing to Julien Benneteau in four sets, and no. 18 seed David Ferrer losing to José Acasuso in five sets. This day also saw Rafael Nadal[28] and Andy Murray struggle with their matches, with both of them being pushed to four sets. A couple of seeds were also pushed to four: Tomáš Berdych and Fernando González. No. 24 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and no. 16 seed Marin Čilić both survived their matches, despite losing the first two sets. Many victors were pushed to five sets: Nicolás Almagro, a returning Taylor Dent, and Denis Istomin. Although many seeds struggled, French seeds got through easily with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils, and Gilles Simon winning their matches on straight sets. They were joined by Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who also won in straight sets.
On the women's side, Victoria Azarenka lost to Italian Francesca Schiavone in three sets after Azarenka double-faulted on a match point.[29] The rest of the matches were all won in straight sets, led by Serena Williams, who defeated María José Martínez Sánchez, who had a controversial match at the 2009 French Open. She was joined by Daniela Hantuchová, who crushed American Vania King, Li Na, Kim Clijsters, Flavia Pennetta, and Venus Williams. Elena Vesnina lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva.
On the women's side, seventh seeded Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai were ousted by the American team of Alexa Glatch and Carly Gullickson. They were followed by no. 14 seed Sania Mirza and Francesca Schiavone, who lost to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko in a tight three-setter.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: David Ferrer [18], Viktor Troicki [30]
- Women's singles: Victoria Azarenka [8], Elena Vesnina [31]
- Women's doubles:
Hsieh Su-wei / 
Peng Shuai [7], Sania Mirza / Francesca Schiavone [14] - Mixed doubles: Nadia Petrova / Max Mirnyi [6]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 6 (September 5)[edit]
Five-time defending champion Swiss Roger Federer took out the 2001 Champion Lleyton Hewitt in four sets after losing the first to set up a match-up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, who beat American James Blake in three sets. Swede Robin Söderling took out the young American Sam Querrey in four sets in order to advance to face Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round, who won his match against Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets. One-time slam champion Novak Djokovic won in a four-set match after losing the first set against American qualifier Jesse Witten in order to advance to the fourth round against Czech Radek Štěpánek, who won in a match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets after losing the first. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco sent German Tommy Haas packing in a brutal five-set match, Verdasco met American John Isner in the next round because Isner eliminated the 2003 champion Andy Roddick from the tournament in another five-set battle.[31]
American Melanie Oudin defeated three-time slam champion and 2006 US Open Champion Russian Maria Sharapova in three sets, losing the first and winning the next two to advance into the fourth round. Russian Nadia Petrova defeated Chinese Zheng Jie 6–4, 6–1 to set up a match with Melanie Oudin in the fourth round. Danish Caroline Wozniacki took out doubles partner Romanian Sorana Cîrstea in the third round in 6–3, 6–2, which allowed her to set up a match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, after Kuznetsova beat Israeli Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 6–1. Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko bested Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova in the third round 7-6(7–4), 6–4, which allowed her to meet Argentine Gisela Dulko, who beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 6–4. Czech Petra Kvitová took down top-seeded world no. 1 Russian Dinara Safina[32] in three up-and-down sets 4–6, 6–2, 7-6(7–5). This set up a fourth-round match with Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who took down Italian Sara Errani with a score of 6–3, 6–4.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: Andy Roddick [5], Tommy Haas [20], James Blake [21], Sam Querrey [22], Philipp Kohlschreiber [23], Lleyton Hewitt [31]
- Women's singles: Dinara Safina [1], Zheng Jie [21], Sorana Cîrstea [24], Maria Sharapova [29]
- Men's doubles:
Bruno Soares / 
Kevin Ullyett [8], 
František Čermák / Michal Mertiňák [10], Marcelo Melo / André Sá [16]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 7 (September 6)[edit]
Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Nicolás Almagro played in a third-round match which was won in straight sets by Rafael Nadal, who would face Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the fourth round. Monfils beat Argentine José Acasuso in straight sets. Chilean Fernando González won in straight sets against Czech Tomáš Berdych and would face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau in straight sets. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero won over higher-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon. Ferrero advanced to play Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who won in four sets over Austrian Daniel Köllerer. Croatian Marin Čilić won in three easy sets over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan to face Briton Andy Murray, who beat American Taylor Dent in three sets.
American Serena Williams beat Slovakian Daniela Hantuchová in two sets that totaled 64 minutes of action to face in the quarterfinals Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat Russian Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva had six match points in the second set, but had a meltdown and lost the third set 6–0.[34] Chinese Li Na won in two sets over Italian Francesca Schiavone. Na advanced to play wild-card Belgian Kim Clijsters, who took down third-seeded Venus Williams in three sets after two love games, 6-0 for Clijsters and 0-6 for Venus Williams. The third set went to Clijsters in one break of Venus's serve 6–4.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: Gilles Simon [9], Tomáš Berdych [17], Nicolás Almagro [32]
- Women's singles: Venus Williams [3], Vera Zvonareva [7], Daniela Hantuchová [22], Francesca Schiavone [26]
- Men's doubles: Martin Damm / Robert Lindstedt [11]
- Women's doubles: Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual [2], Anna-Lena Grönefeld / Patty Schnyder [9]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play
Day 8 (September 7)[edit]
Swede Robin Söderling advanced to the quarterfinals with a retirement of Russian Nikolay Davydenko to face the Swiss Roger Federer, who beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This would mark the third time the duo of Federer and Söderling has met in a Grand Slam in 2009, including the 2009 French Open final and the 2009 Wimbledon Championships fourth round, which were both won by Federer. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco beat American John Isner to advance into the quarterfinals, which means for the first time in US Open history no American male advanced into the quarterfinals of the tournament.[36] Verdasco would face Serbian Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals because Djokovic took down Czech Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. After defeating Štěpánek, Djokovic provided a light-hearted moment for the crowd along with former tennis great and current commentator John McEnroe. Djokovic began by impersonating McEnroe, who grew up in the nearby Queens neighborhood of Douglaston. He then motioned for McEnroe to come down from the press box; McEnroe obliged, mimicking some of Djokovic's mannerisms before the two played a few points. The two then embraced at the net.
The first match featured Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko making quick work of Argentine Gisela Dulko in double-bagel sets in 47 minutes. Dulko had beaten Bondarenko's sister, Alona Bondarenko, in the second round. with Dulko making 20 unforced errors compared to Bondarenko's 6, while Bondarenko made 17 winners to Dulko's 7.[37] Melanie Oudin advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 1–6, 7–6, 6–3 win over No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova. Belgian Yanina Wickmayer won in a three-set match against Czech Petra Kvitová to advance into the quarterfinals, making two Belgians who have advanced to the quarterfinalss for the first time since the 2003 US Open tournament. Wickmayer took advantage of the Czech's unforced errors and won the match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 2–6, 7–6, 7–6 in an absorbing contest that kicked off Monday's night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
- Seeds out:
- Men's singles: Nikolay Davydenko [8], Tommy Robredo [14], Radek Štěpánek [15]
- Women's singles: Svetlana Kuznetsova [6], Nadia Petrova [13]
- Women's singles: Daniela Hantuchová /
Ai Sugiyama [5], Vania King / Monica Niculescu [12] - Mixed doubles: Lisa Raymond / Marcin Matkowski [3], Rennae Stubbs / Robert Lindstedt [7], Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Nenad Zimonjić [8]
- Men's singles:
- Schedule of play