2008 US Open (tennis)

The 2008 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 128th edition of the US Open, and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States, from August 25 through September 8, 2008.

The men's defending champion, Roger Federer, won the US Open for a fifth consecutive time. Justine Henin, the women's defending champion, did not return to defend her title due to her retirement from tennis, for personal reasons, earlier in the year. Serena Williams was the champion on the women's side, winning her third US Open title; she had last won the event in 2002. Federer and Williams's opponents, Andy Murray and Jelena Janković, were making their débuts in Grand Slam finals. World number ones Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic went out in the semifinal and second round, respectively. This was Nadal's best ever result at the US Open; for Ivanovic, it was her second early exit at a Grand Slam since her win at the 2008 French Open.

The home nation had success; Serena Williams was the first American to win a singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003. Twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won their second US Open title, and Liezel Huber (who became an American citizen in 2007) won the women's doubles with Zimbabwean Cara Black.

Preparations

The International Tennis Federation and United States Tennis Association offered audiences a number of new ways to access the Open in 2008. A YouTube channel was set up to broadcast highlights, and the official US Open website featured hourly updates of what was happening at the tournament. Multiple matches could be accessed at any one time, on handheld video devices courtesy of American Express. In celebration of the 40th anniversary since the US National Championships became "open" to professionals, a special opening ceremony was held, showcasing all the singles champions of the previous 40 years, with over two dozen of them in attendance. The ceremony was hosted by actor Forest Whitaker and included musical performances from funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. In addition to this, fans were shown nightly video tributes, and a commemorative book was published. On August 23, the annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day was held; Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, and Serena Williams led the player participation. Musical acts including the Jonas Brothers and Sean Kingston performed on this day as well.

Men's and women's singles players

Day-by-day summaries

''Day by day summaries of the men's and women's singles events, with men's, women's, and mixed doubles exits also listed. Both the men's and women's singles draw are composed of 128 players, with 32 of these players seeded.''

Day 1

Seeds progressing on the first day of play included David Ferrer, Andy Murray, David Nalbandian, Stanislas Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Gaël Monfils. Recent Olympic gold medalist, and new World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who acknowledged that he was suffering from fatigue post-match, advanced after being tested by qualifier Björn Phau; and Juan Martín del Potro, who entered the Open on a run of nineteen consecutive wins, and who, over the course of this run, had become the first player in ATP history to win his first four titles in as many tournaments, beat fellow Argentine Guillermo Cañas. Together Nadal and del Potro had completed the longest winning streaks on the tour in 2008, with Nadal's run having extended to 32 matches. Americans James Blake (seeded ninth) and Donald Young treated the home crowd to a match spanning five sets, in one of the scheduled night matches, with Blake emerging as the victor. Juan Mónaco and Feliciano López were the only seeds who failed to progress.

In the women's competition, Jelena Janković, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Patty Schnyder, Caroline Wozniacki, Francesca Schiavone, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Katarina Srebotnik, and Sybille Bammer all made safe passage into the second round. Nadal's Olympic counterpart, Elena Dementieva, made hard work of her win against Akgul Amanmuradova, and former champion Lindsay Davenport, playing the US Open for the first time since her return to the sport from a break due to motherhood, beat recent Bank of the West Classic winner Aleksandra Wozniak in a comfortable two sets. Seeded losers included 2007 semifinalist Anna Chakvetadze, who lost to Ekaterina Makarova, making this her worst Slam finish in three years; Maria Kirilenko, who lost to Tamira Paszek; and Shahar Pe'er, who lost to Li Na 2–6, 6–0, 6–1.
* Seeded players out: Juan Mónaco, Feliciano López; Shahar Pe'er, Anna Chakvetadze, Maria Kirilenko

Day 2

Day 2 saw the first round matches from the bottom half of the draw begin; Fernando González, Fernando Verdasco, Ivo Karlović, Tommy Robredo, Igor Andreev, and Paul-Henri Mathieu all progressed. Defending champion and number two seed Roger Federer, playing his first Grand Slam since the 2004 Australian Open at a seeding lower than number one, beat Máximo González 6–3, 6–0, 6–3, and Andreas Seppi, the thirty-first seed, triumphed in five sets (6–3, 7–5, 3–6, 3–6, 6–3) over Hyung-taik Lee. Four seeds exited the tournament: Richard Gasquet, who lost in five sets to former world number two Tommy Haas; Tomáš Berdych, who lost to home favorite Sam Querrey in a humbling 6–3, 6–1, 6–2 scoreline; Canada Masters runner-up Nicolas Kiefer, who retired at two sets to one and 4–1 down in his match against Ivo Minář; and Mikhail Youzhny, who withdrew due to a viral illness.

World No. 1 and top seed Ana Ivanovic, who had recently returned from injury, began her campaign with a hard-fought win over Vera Dushevina, coming through 6–1, 4–6, 6–4. The Williams sisters Venus and Serena, both former champions, advanced with relative ease, as did in-form player and US Open Series winner Dinara Safina. Agnieszka Radwańska, Ágnes Szávay, Flavia Pennetta, Alizé Cornet, Nadia Petrova, Nicole Vaidišová, Alona Bondarenko, Dominika Cibulková, and former world number one Amélie Mauresmo all scored victories to enter the second round. However, eleventh seed Daniela Hantuchová suffered a heavy defeat by qualifier Anna-Lena Grönefeld, and thirty-first seed Virginie Razzano was also beaten.
* Seeded players out: Mikhail Youzhny ''(withdrawal)'', Tomáš Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Nicolas Kiefer; Daniela Hantuchová, Virginie Razzano
* Seeded players out: Paul Hanley / Jordan Kerr
Madison Dauenhauer of Anaconda, Montana was a spectator, and also Paul Hanley's niece, at the tournament

Day 3

On Day 3, the remaining men's first round matches were completed. Third-seeded Novak Djokovic, who had won the Australian Open earlier in the year, won in straight sets against Arnaud Clément, but was hampered by an ankle injury, for which he received courtside treatment. Andy Roddick produced a sterling performance to defeat Fabrice Santoro 6–2, 6–2, 6–2, and Nikolay Davydenko, who entered the tournament on a poor run of form was, by his own admission, surprisingly efficient in dispatching Dudi Sela 6–3, 6–3, 6–3. Nicolás Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Radek Štěpánek, and Marin Čilić won their matches to claim places in the second round, meaning that no seeds were knocked out on Day 3.

In the women's second round matches, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Lindsay Davenport, Katarina Srebotnik, and Sybille Bammer all recorded routine victories to reach the third round. Two players who faced greater resistance from their opponents were Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Janković, playing against Sofia Arvidsson, had match points in the second set, and eventually came through 6–3, 6–7(5), 6–4. The match, which lasted two hours and forty-four minutes, left Janković unable to complete her warmdown. Kuznetsova meanwhile, had to come back from being 4–2 down to Sorana Cîrstea in the first set, before winning in two. Fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva, a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games, lost to Tatiana Perebiynis; Francesca Schiavone lost to Anne Keothavong, making Keothavong the first British woman to reach the third round of the US Open since Jo Durie's run at the 1991 Open; and Anabel Medina Garrigues lost to recent Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie.
* Seeded players out: Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, Anabel Medina Garrigues
* Seeded players out: Jeff Coetzee / Rogier Wassen, Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Marcin Matkowski; Eva Hrdinová / Vladimíra Uhlířová, Květa Peschke / Rennae Stubbs, Maria Kirilenko / Flavia Pennetta, Yung-jan Chan / Chia-jung Chuang, Nathalie Dechy / Casey Dellacqua

Day 4

The second round of the men's singles commenced, and David Nalbandian, Stanislas Wawrinka, Ivo Karlović, Gilles Simon, and Juan Martín del Potro all reached the final sixty-four of the draw. Joining them was Rafael Nadal, who completed an imposing defeat over qualifier and world number 261 Ryler DeHeart, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4. Three seeds who faced sterner tests from their opponents were David Ferrer, who won a battling contest against Andreas Beck in four sets, Andy Murray, who was inconsistent in defeating Michaël Llodra 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, 7–6(7), and American James Blake, who was tied 4–6, 6–3, 1–0 with Steve Darcis before the Belgian's retirement. Two upsets occurred on Day 4: one involved Philipp Kohlschreiber, who retired against the Legg Mason Tennis Classic finalist of a fortnight previous, Viktor Troicki, at 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 3–0 down; the other saw Paul-Henri Mathieu beaten by American Mardy Fish 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4.

In the second set of women's second round matches, world number 188 Julie Coin provided one of the biggest shocks of the tournament, as she defeated Ana Ivanovic, the World No. 1, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. It was the earliest exit made by a top seed at the tournament since Maria Bueno's second round loss at the 1967 U.S. National Championships (Bueno received a first round bye), before the beginning of the Open Era. Ivanovic, who made a similarly unexpected exit at the Wimbledon Championships, conceded that she was not playing to the standard of a world number one. Coin set up a clash with Amélie Mauresmo, who bypassed the threat of Kaia Kanepi 2–6, 6–4, 6–0. Venus Williams eased to victory over Rossana de los Ríos 6–0, 6–3, and sister Serena won in similar fashion versus Elena Vesnina, 6–1, 6–1. A top ten seed who had greater problems progressing was Dinara Safina, who was troubled by her own unpredictable manner of play in defeating Roberta Vinci 6–4, 6–3; Agnieszka Radwańska, Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta, Alizé Cornet, and Dominika Cibulková also came through. Two seeded players who fell were Ágnes Szávay, who lost to Tathiana Garbin 5–7, 6–2, 6–3, and Nicole Vaidišová, who lost to Séverine Brémond.
* Seeded players out: Nicole Vaidišová, Ágnes Szávay, Ana Ivanovic; Paul-Henri Mathieu, Philipp Kohlschreiber
* Seeded players out: Arnaud Clément / Michaël Llodra ''(retirement)'', Max Mirnyi / Jamie Murray; Victoria Azarenka / Shahar Pe'er; Yung-jan Chan / Julian Knowle

Day 5

Roger Federer and Nikolay Davydenko completed easy wins, over Thiago Alves and Agustín Calleri respectively, to reach the third round on the fifth day of play at Flushing Meadows. Novak Djokovic was forced into a first set tiebreak against American qualifier Robert Kendrick, and, after having been 6–2 up, faced two sets points in Kendrick's favor, before winning it 10–8; Djokovic then took the next two sets, 6–4, 6–4. Afterwards, Djokovic credited the first set win to his improved mental strength. Another top ten seed who faced problems in the early stages of his match was Andy Roddick, who eventually secured a 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 7–5 win over Ernests Gulbis. Fernando González won in straight sets against Bobby Reynolds, despite sustaining an ankle injury; Tommy Robredo ended 2000 champion Marat Safin's participation in four; and Gilles Müller and Jarkko Nieminen, two unseeded players, won their matches after each having been two sets down. Other seeds to make progress were Fernando Verdasco, Nicolás Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov, Radek Štěpánek, Marin Čilić, and Andreas Seppi.

In the women's singles, Svetlana Kuznetsova became the second top five seed to be knocked out in the space of two days, as she succumbed to number twenty-eight seed Katarina Srebotnik, 6–3, 6–7(1), 6–3. Kuznetsova praised Srebotnik in defeat, saying that she had no qualms over her own performance. Jelena Janković, who was playing Zheng Jie, found herself in a similar predicament to Kuznetsova, in that she was facing a second difficult match-up in three days. Janković, however, prevailed, 7–5, 7–5, after a steadfast Zheng saved four match points in a final game that witnessed 11 deuces. Marion Bartoli reached the fourth round, beating veteran Lindsay Davenport, who would neither confirm nor deny whether she was on the brink of retirement. Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, and Sybille Bammer all continued their progress through the early rounds, and Caroline Wozniacki, the twenty-first seed and winner of titles in Stockholm and New Haven in the month leading up to the Open, upset fourteenth seeded Victoria Azarenka.
* Seeded players out: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Victoria Azarenka, Lindsay Davenport
* Seeded players out: Jonas Björkman / Kevin Ullyett, Pablo Cuevas / Luis Horna; Nuria Llagostera Vives / María José Martínez Sánchez; Chia-jung Chang / Daniel Nestor, Ai Sugiyama / Kevin Ullyett, Nathalie Dechy / Andy Ram, Yan Zi / Mark Knowles

Day 6

Day 6 featured several upsets and lengthy contests, as four of the eight men's matches went to five sets, and five seeded players were knocked out. The win that ''The New York Times'' lauded as the greatest upset of the men's competition thus far, was Kei Nishikori's victory over 2007 semifinalist and fourth seed David Ferrer. Nishikori, ranked world number 126, won after Ferrer had staged a comeback from two sets down, and then saved five match points of his, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 7–5. Aged 18, he was the youngest man to reach the fourth round at the US Open since Marat Safin in 1998, and the first Japanese man since Shuzo Matsuoka at the 1995 Wimbledon Championships to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Nishikori set up a tie with Juan Martín del Potro, who stretched his winning run to 22 matches with a 6–4, 6–7(4), 6–1, 3–6, 6–3 triumph over Gilles Simon, who was seeded one place higher than him at sixteenth. Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka both came through in five sets, and both had to forge comebacks after having been 2–0 down in sets. Murray, who at one point was two points away from losing the match, defeated Jürgen Melzer 6–7(5), 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–1, 6–3; whilst Wawrinka beat lucky loser Flavio Cipolla 5–7, 6–7(4), 6–4, 6–0, 6–4. Thirty-second seed Gaël Monfils, who had reached the semi-finals of his last Grand Slam, the French Open, knocked out number seven David Nalbandian; unseeded Mardy Fish beat number nine seed and good friend James Blake; and the also unseeded Sam Querrey beat number fourteen Ivo Karlović (all straight sets). Rafael Nadal also reached the fourth round.

Milestones were also being set in the women's competition, as Anna-Lena Grönefeld (who beat number seventeen seed Alizé Cornet) became the first qualifier to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996. The Williams sisters continued their progression untroubled, as each won on the scoreline of 6–2, 6–1 (Venus against number twenty-seven seed Alona Bondarenko, Serena against number thirty Ai Sugiyama). Dinara Safina was again forced into a tough match, eventually beating teenager Timea Bacsinszky 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, after being two points away from losing the match in the second set. In the other matches, ninth seed Agnieszka Radwańska eased to victory over eighteenth seed and recent Rogers Cup finalist Dominika Cibulková, 6–0, 6–3; sixteenth seed Flavia Pennetta beat Nadia Petrova, seeded three places lower; Amélie Mauresmo ended the run of Julie Coin; and wild card Séverine Brémond knocked Tathiana Garbin out of the tournament.
* Seeded players out: Dominika Cibulková, Alona Bondarenko, Ai Sugiyama, Nadia Petrova, Alizé Cornet; Ivo Karlović, David Nalbandian, Gilles Simon, David Ferrer, James Blake
* Seeded players out: Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram, Julien Benneteau / Nicolas Mahut, Simon Aspelin / Julian Knowle; Elena Vesnina / Vera Zvonareva; Květa Peschke / Pavel Vízner

Day 7

On the day that marked the half-way point of the tournament, the men's third round matches were finished. Novak Djokovic, facing the number thirty seed and recent Pilot Pen Tennis champion Marin Čilić, was severely tested by the 19-year-old, but won through 6–7(7), 7–5, 6–4, 7–6(0) in four hours. Čilić continued to claw his way back into the match, as early breaks of serve by Djokovic in the final three sets were all nullified, and two match points were missed before he won. Roger Federer's win was in contrast to this, as he completed a comprehensive victory over number twenty-eight seed Radek Štěpánek, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2; and Andy Roddick also made easier passage to the fourth round, defeating number thirty Andreas Seppi 6–2, 7–5, 7–6(4). Both of these players were particularly successful on their serves. Nikolay Davydenko also put in a consummate performance to beat twenty-sixth seed Dmitry Tursunov, 6–2, 7–6, 6–3. Fifteenth seed Tommy Robredo knocked out the nineteenth seed and Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who was playing his first tournament since having knee surgery in May); eleventh seed Fernando González defeated Jarkko Nieminen in four sets; and number twenty-three seed Igor Andreev defeated his higher-ranked opponent, number thirteen Fernando Verdasco, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. Finally, qualifier Gilles Müller, who had not won three successive Tour level matches since July 2005 coming into the event, beat a second opponent after being two sets to love down (this time number eighteen Nicolás Almagro) in consecutive rounds, 6–7(3), 3–6, 7–6(5), 7–6,(6) 7–5.

Number two seed Jelena Janković faced a third successive match in which she struggled to reach the next round, but came through against teenager Caroline Wozniacki 3–6, 6–2, 6–1. Janković, who faced a similarly stern test versus Wozniacki at Wimbledon, was sluggish in the opening set, but proved dangerous on the rebound, as she took the next two losing only three games, and played in a more aggressive manner. Elena Dementieva cruised to victory against Li Na, and fifteenth seed Patty Schnyder beat Katarina Srebotnik to reach her second US Open quarterfinal, her first having come ten years earlier. Notably, the other fourth round match played, between twenty-ninth seed Sybille Bammer and number twelve Marion Bartoli, matched the longest women's singles match on record at the Open, clocking in at three hours and three minutes—with Bammer prevailing, 7–6(3), 0–6, 6–4. Bartoli called the trainer twice during the match, and said afterwards that she had been ailed by a stomach bug and low blood pressure.
* Seeded players out: Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Katarina Srebotnik; Dmitry Tursunov, Radek Štěpánek, Nicolás Almagro, Fernando Verdasco, Andreas Seppi, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Čilić.
* Seeded players out: Martin Damm / Pavel Vízner; Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko

Day 8

Rafael Nadal faced the first opponent, home favorite Sam Querrey, to cause him a palpable threat, as he came through 6–2, 5–7, 7–6(2), 6–3. Nadal struggled in the latter stages of the second set (which was the first one he dropped in the tournament), and up until the tiebreak of the third, putting in a subdued performance in which the quality of his serve wavered. An American who did progress to the quarterfinals was Mardy Fish, who beat number thirty-two seed Gaël Monfils 7–5, 6–2, 6–2. Fish played an attack-minded match, hitting 49 winners and regularly utilizing serve and volley tactics. Meanwhile, in the men's night match between number six seed Andy Murray and number ten Stanislas Wawrinka, Murray secured an accomplished win (6–1, 6–3, 6–3), in what BBC
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