The U.S. Open kicks off Monday in New York. It is one of four Grand Slam tournaments and is the most prestigious competition in this country. Following are some facts, figures and other tidbits about the tournament:
HISTORY
The U.S. Open began as a men’s singles tournament in 1881 in Newport, R.I. The first women’s tournament was in 1887 at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. In 1915, the tourney moved to Forest Hills in Queens, but today is in Flushing, N.Y. Professional tennis players were not allowed to compete in the open format until 1968, when men and women competed for $100,000 in prize money. This year’s prize money could total as much as $22.7 million.
Richard D. Sears won the men’s singles title the first seven years. Roger Federer enters this year’s tourney as a three-time defending champion. Maria Sharapova is the defending women’s champion.
YOUNGEST, OLDEST CHAMPIONS
Pete Sampras is the youngest player to win the men’s singles title. He won in 1990 at the age of 19 years, 28 days. Ken Rosewall is the oldest to win in the open era. He was 35 years, 10 months and 11 days old when he won in 1970.
In 1979, Tracy Austin was 16 years, 8 months and 28 days old when she won the women’s singles. Margaret Court won the title in 1970 at 31 years, 1 month and 23 days.
BORG’S BLIGHT
The U.S. Open was always a frustrating time for tennis legend Bjorn Borg, who never won the tourney despite advancing to four singles finals. After losing the 1981 final to John McEnroe, Borg famously walked away from the game, not returning for another decade.
MIXED BAG FOR MARTINA
Martina Navratilova was a familiar face in the women’s singles finals. She finished with a 4-4 record in finals matches, beating Chris Evert (twice), Helena Sukova and Steffi Graf and losing to Hana Mandlikova, Tracy Austin, Monica Seles and Graf.
(SOURCE: USOPEN.ORG)
LET’S GO TO THE TAPE
Last year, the tourney became the first Grand Slam tournament to use instant replay, using Hawk-Eye, which is available only on the stadium courts. Each player is allowed two challenges per set plus one additional challenge during a tiebreaker, but is not penalized with the loss of a challenge if the challenge turns out to be correct. Once the challenge is made, the official review (a 3D computer simulation based on multiple high-speed video cameras) is shown to the players, umpires and audience on the stadium video boards and to the television audience at the same time. The system is said to be accurate to within 5 millimeters.
GREATEST MATCH?
Perhaps the greatest match in tournament history was one that was early in the tourney, among two players who failed to make the final.
On his 39th birthday in 1991, Jimmy Connors beat 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein in a four-hour, 41-minute quarterfinal match. Connors came back from 2-5 down in the final set to advance to the semifinals, where he lost to Jim Courier.
Connors famously pointed to each side of the stadium crowd following his win over Krickstein. Connors remains the oldest player to advance that deep into the tournament in its history.
