About the US Open Tennis Tournament (History)
The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year. Originally founded in 1881, the US Open is the modern version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world - the US National Championship. It is also the only one of all of the Grand Slam tournaments that has been played every year since its inception. The major traditionally starts on the last Monday in August and lasts for two weeks until the early stages of September, with the middle weekend always coinciding with the Labor Day holiday.
It consequently means players have just over one month from the conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships to attune to the hard court conditions. In preparation the ATP and WTA Tours travel to Masters 1000 and Premier events in Montreal, Toronto and Cincinnati.
In 1984, the US Open introduced Super Saturday, with the women’s final scheduled on Saturday, in between the two men’s semi-finals. Super Saturday has remained ever since, with the men’s final then to be played the next day on the Sunday. However, between 2007 and 2012, the men’s final had to be postponed to the following Monday due to weather. Because of this the USTA intentionally scheduled the men’s final on Monday in 2013 and 2014 but this attracted criticism from the ATP for further deviating from the structure of all of the other three Grand Slams. The final is now rescheduled back on the second Sunday.
Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer are the only players in the Open Era to have won the title a record five times, while Federer remains the only active player to have achieved the feat, although Federer’s last title came back in 2008. Federer is also the only player to have won the title five times in a row (2004-2008) in the Open Era, while American Bill Tilden won the title six times in a row in the Amateur Era (1920-1925). On the women’s side, Chris Evert and Serena Williams hold the Open Era record with six titles each. Williams won three in a row between 2012-2014 before her agonising loss in the 2015 semi-finals. Of course Williams was the last American woman to win the title, while the last American men’s champion was Andy Roddick in 2003.
Rafael Nadal is the defending men's champion, while Sloane Stephens will be attempting to retain her U.S. Open crown.
With the biggest stars in tennis all taking to the courts in New York from 27 August - 9 September, 2017, the competition for the 2018 US Open titles is not to be missed!
It consequently means players have just over one month from the conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships to attune to the hard court conditions. In preparation the ATP and WTA Tours travel to Masters 1000 and Premier events in Montreal, Toronto and Cincinnati.
In 1984, the US Open introduced Super Saturday, with the women’s final scheduled on Saturday, in between the two men’s semi-finals. Super Saturday has remained ever since, with the men’s final then to be played the next day on the Sunday. However, between 2007 and 2012, the men’s final had to be postponed to the following Monday due to weather. Because of this the USTA intentionally scheduled the men’s final on Monday in 2013 and 2014 but this attracted criticism from the ATP for further deviating from the structure of all of the other three Grand Slams. The final is now rescheduled back on the second Sunday.
Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer are the only players in the Open Era to have won the title a record five times, while Federer remains the only active player to have achieved the feat, although Federer’s last title came back in 2008. Federer is also the only player to have won the title five times in a row (2004-2008) in the Open Era, while American Bill Tilden won the title six times in a row in the Amateur Era (1920-1925). On the women’s side, Chris Evert and Serena Williams hold the Open Era record with six titles each. Williams won three in a row between 2012-2014 before her agonising loss in the 2015 semi-finals. Of course Williams was the last American woman to win the title, while the last American men’s champion was Andy Roddick in 2003.
Rafael Nadal is the defending men's champion, while Sloane Stephens will be attempting to retain her U.S. Open crown.
With the biggest stars in tennis all taking to the courts in New York from 27 August - 9 September, 2017, the competition for the 2018 US Open titles is not to be missed!
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