US Open Recap
The last grand slam of 2009 ended with surprises in both the men’s and in the women’s final. The tournament was filled with impressive performances from very young players, particularly those of of 17-year old Melanie Oudin, of 19-year old Yanina Wickmayer and of the 19-year old finalist Caroline Wozniacki.
The men’s winner Juan Martin del Potro is only 20 years old and only the second South American to grab the the US Open title after Guilermo Vilas in 1977. Thanks to his powerful forehand and persistence on offense del Potro managed to surprise by winning the final against tournament favorite Roger Federer. It is amazing that del Potro’s nerves didn’t falter in his first grand slam final after his impressive victory over Nadal and that he was able to dictate the match with his forehand from the 4th set.
In the 5th set and after 4 hours played, he finally succeeded on his third match point and was overwhelmed by his emotions. It will be exciting to see further developments of young players and the new Argentine hope in the next season.
Still as player of the year, Roger Federer has cemented his place in history with 2 grand slam victories, two finals and the historic 15th grand slam title.
On the women’s side, I was especially delighted too see that after two years of maternity leave Kim Clijsters was able to complete such an impressive and confident comeback with the US open title. Clijsters showed enormous improvement in her performance through the course of the tournament. While having to play 3 sets against Marion Bartoli and Venus Williams, she was able to defeat last year’s champion Serena Williams and her final opponent Caroline Wotzniacki in only 2 sets. This makes her the first player who has won the tournament with a wildcard and the first mother to win a grand slam since 1980. The pictures of Kim and her little daughter with the winner’s trophy were quite touching. I appreciate and admire that she has been able to reach such a high level – both physically and mentally – in only her third tournament after her comeback and how she kept her nerves under control in a tense situation in the match against Serena Williams. It is unfortunate that a great semi finals match between Clijsters and Williams had to end as it did. Serena’s behavior towards the line judge is really less than the standard we should expect from tennis players or indeed any professional athlete.
A special event for me was an event with my husband, who together with other athletes, among them Dough Flutie, Mia Hamm and David Robinson, was honored for their giving back to the community.
In a moving speech, he spoke about his journey from being a tennis player to the foundation of a preparatory school for youth at risk. The most emotional moment of his social commitment was honoring the students from the first graduation class of his Andre Agassi Preparatory Academy, which took place in Las Vegas this summer. We are both very proud of all of these students, who have all graduated successfully and will now pursue university careers.
Indeed, this year’s us open turned out be an eye opener….and i thnk in lot many ways a rebirth for women’s tennis (as lot of people had lost interest lately with one sided outcomes)…..they say that the rare characteristic of the toughest of the champions is to manufacture success out of raw material of disaster……i thnk both the champions proved that …n hopefully an inspiration to all that if you think you can..then you really can……
I was very happy to see Kim winning her second Slam. It was funny to see her doughter on court with the trophy.
Hi, Steffi.
I’ d been a big fan of yours in Japan. We, your japanese fans are very happy to be able to hear from you just like that, by the internet.
Say, do you know Ichiro Suzuki, a japanese baseball star in MLB??
His way of bat-swing always reminds me of your backhand-slice.
Not only this, but also his play style, especially his mentality, the way of control it, also reminds me of yours, somehow, as an great athelete.
I’m very sorry, if you don’t feel good to hear that, although I don’t mean it.
Thank you for your reading this, and Alles Gute an Ihnen und Ihren Familien!!
Hey, Kimiko Date-Krum won a WTA title in Korea.
She came back because of the exhibition match with you 2 years ago.
Aren’t you gonna come back too??
That would be so exciting!!
Hi h.s.
Thanks for your comment. I will not be attempting a comeback but it was great to see Kimiko do so well. I just posted a few thoughts about it here.
There’s another tennis fan that I see sometimes here in LA and before the US Open began I predicted that Kim would surprise a few people — maybe even take the whole thing! Wouldn’t that be sweet I said (Kim is so lovable, who doesn’t want the best for her). This guy just about laughed me out of town!
When I told this same guy (during the quarters) that I thought Del Potro could beat Fed if he made it to the final — my tennis friend again nearly laughed me out of town! After seeing Del Potro play Rafa earlier in the year at Miami, I knew that he was for real. Now everyone knows he’s for real.
As for Kim — she surprised more than a few people! I was thrilled for her, and yeah, she and her daughter AND her husband were a sweet combo during the trophy presentation. I couldn’t stop smiling or clapping while watching my TV.
p.s. I’m glad that at 40 years of age Stefanie only plays matches for charity. She made her mark on the tour (and is arguably — for those who believe in the concept of GOAT — the best ever — man or woman — to play in the open era!!). With her footwork even today, no doubt she could win a smaller tournament or two, and maybe even give some of the big top ranked babes some serious trouble! SURELY, she could school them in humility…but I digress.
However, I appreciate Stef more now as a wife and mother and person who cares about and works hard to (along with Andre) to better her world community. I particularly like the comment, “It’s time to give a little bit of your time….to others…” If we all did it…just think of how the world could change for the better.
I have a bet going with my husband that one day Andre will be a congressman from Nevada! If Stef could stand it. I don’t live in your state, but I’d contribute to his campaign for sure!
Liebe Steffi,
Schon dass ich dir etwas schreiben kann. Ich habe die gleiche Initialen wie dir SG, bin in Juni geboren 8-6-1970 und spiele tennis.
Du auf dass hoheste Niveau, ich auf das niedrigste. Ich wollte dir nur wissen lassen dass ich dich immer bewundert habe um deines hervoragendes Spiel. Es muss sicher nicht leicht gewesen sein so jung wie dir so berumt und so viel Druck gehabt zu haben.
Es ware toll sein wenn du mal noch in Europa bist einander auf ein Tennis court entgegen zu kommen. Wir wurden sicher viel spass haben.
Machs gut und geniess das Leben. Viele Grussen aus Die Niederlande.
Stephanie Geelen