The US Open men's singles championship is an annual
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
tournament that is part of the
US Open and was established in
1881. It is played on outdoor
hard court
A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...
s at the
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. It has been the home of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, played every year in August a ...
in
Flushing Meadows – Corona Park
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushin ...
, New York City, United States.
The US Open is played during a two-week period in late August and early September, and has been chronologically the last of the four
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
tournaments of the tennis
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
since 1987.
Newport (1881–1914),
Forest Hills (1915–1920, 1924–1977), and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
(1921–1923) held the event before it settled in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
at the USTA National Tennis Center, now the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in New York City.
The inaugural tournament, in 1881, was reserved for
United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) club members, before the championships opened to international competitors in 1882.
[ The ]USTA
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
is the national body that organizes this event.
History
The men's singles' rules have undergone several changes since the first edition. From 1884
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London.
* January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London.
* January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...
to 1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
, the event started with a knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
phase, the All-Comers singles, whose winner faced the defending champion in a challenge round
Challenge may refer to:
* Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters
* Euphemism for disability
* Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty
Places
Geography
*Challenge, C ...
. The All-Comers winner was awarded the title six times ( 1888, 1893
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America.
* Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson.
* January 6 – Th ...
, 1898
Events
January–March
* January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...
, 1901
Events
January
* January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...
, 1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
, 1907
Events
January
* January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000.
February
* February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...
) in the absence of the previous year's champion. The challenge round system was abolished with the 1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6 ...
edition. From 1908 to 1914, when the championships were held at Newport, men's singles draws had exceeded 128 players, but when the event moved to Forest Hills in 1915 entries would be "submitted by clubs, thereby making the clubs weed out mediocre players. Furthermore, the entry fee would be set high enough to prevent cheapskates from entering just to get a seat at the tournament at a lower price and then defaulting". Since 1881, all matches but the All-Comers final and the challenge round were played as the best-of-three sets, before the event switched to best-of-five
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
for all rounds in 1886
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885.
* January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...
. Best-two-out-of-three-sets matches were reintroduced for early rounds in 1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
, from 1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
to 1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
, and from 1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
to 1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
.[ Before ]1884
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London.
* January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London.
* January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...
, the winner of the next game at five-games–all
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All al ...
took the set in every match except the All-Comers final and the challenge round, which were won by the player who had at least six games and at least two games more than his opponent. This advantage format was introduced for the final sets of early rounds in 1884, and used for all sets in all rounds from 1887 to 1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
.[ The ]tie-break
In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests.
General operation
In matches
In some situations, the tiebreaker may consi ...
system was introduced in 1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
for all sets, in its best-of-nine points sudden death version until 1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
, and in its best-of-13 points lingering death version since 1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
. In addition, the US Open was the first slam to have a fifth set tie-break.
The court surface changed twice, from grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
(1881–1974), to Har-Tru clay (1975–1977), to DecoTurf hard courts, since 1978. The only man to win on all three surfaces, which are grass, Har-Tru clay, and DecoTurf hard was Jimmy Connors
James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
.
The champion receives a full-size replica of the event's trophy engraved with his name. In 2010, the winner received prize money of US$1,700,000. A bonus pool of $1,000,000 is also to US Open champions who have clinched the first place of the US Open Series
The US Open Series is the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It is part of the "North American hard court season". Emirat ...
.
In the U.S. National Championships, Richard Sears Richard Sears may refer to:
*Richard Warren Sears (1863–1914), founder of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
*Richard Sears (pilgrim) (1595–1676), early settler of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
*Richard Sears (tennis)
Richard Dudley Sears (October ...
(1881–1887), William Larned
William Augustus Larned (December 30, 1872 – December 16, 1926) was an American tennis player who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. He won seven singles titles at the U.S. National Championships.
Biography
Larned was born ...
(1901–1902, 1907–1911) and Bill Tilden
William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...
(1920–1925, 1929) hold the record for most titles in the men's singles, with seven victories each. Four of Sears' wins and all of Larned's, came within the challenge round format, and they won respectively only thrice and twice after going through a complete draw. Sears also holds the all-time record for most consecutive titles, with seven from (1881 to 1887); the first win came when the event was closed to foreign participants. Without the challenge round, the record stands at six, and is held by Tilden (1920–1925).[
During the US Open, since the inclusion of the professional tennis players, Jimmy Connors (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982–1983), ]Pete Sampras
Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
(1990, 1993, 1995–1996, 2002), and Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
(2004–2008) have won the most championships, with five titles. Federer has had the most consecutive wins, with five (2004–2008).[
]
Champions
United States National Championships
US Open
Statistics
Multiple champions
* ''Years in italic type denote titles defended in the challenge round.''
(*) ''denotes event only for USNLTA club members only''
Champions by country
See also
US Open other competitions
*List of US Open women's singles champions
The US Open women's singles championship is an annual tennis event that is being held since 1887 as part of the US Open tournament. The tournament is played on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing M ...
*List of US Open men's doubles champions
The inaugural US Open men's doubles tennis tournament, in 1881, was reserved for United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) club members and was won by Clarence Clark and Frederick Winslow Taylor. The following year, 1882, the cham ...
*List of US Open women's doubles champions
The following pairings won the US Open tennis championship at Women's Doubles.
Champions U.S. National Championships
US Open
See also
US Open other competitions
*List of US Open men's singles champions
*List of US Open men's doubles ch ...
*List of US Open mixed doubles champions
The following pairings won the U.S. Open tennis championship in mixed doubles.
Finals U.S. National Championships
US Open
See also
U.S. Open other competitions
*List of US Open men's singles champions
*List of US Open men's doubles champ ...
Grand Slam men's singles
*List of Australian Open men's singles champions
The Australian Open is an annual tennis tournament created in 1905 and (since 1988) played on outdoor hardcourts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Open is played over a two-week period beginning in mid-January and has be ...
*List of French Open men's singles champions
The French Open, also known as Roland-Garros, is an annual tennis tournament held over two weeks in May and June. Established in 1891 and played since 1928 on outdoor red clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, the French Open ...
*List of Wimbledon gentlemen's singles champions
Wimbledon Championships is an annual British tennis tournament created in 1877 and played on outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the Wimbledon suburb of London, United Kingdom. The Gentlemen's Singles w ...
* List of Grand Slam men's singles champions
Other events
* United States Amateur Tennis Championships
*U.S. Pro Tennis Championships
The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships (for a period from 1951 to 1962 billed as the Cleveland International Pro or Cleveland World Pro Tennis Championships) was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 and is consi ...
Notes
References
;General
*
*
;Specific
External links
US Open official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:US Open men's singles champions
Men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chrom ...
Lists of male tennis players