World number one Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Sunday's U.S. Open final, but the top-seeded Serb expects hard work ahead when he meets Stan Wawrinka at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Defending champion Djokovic, who became the third man to hold all four grand slam singles titles at once after his triumph at Roland Garros in June, owns a 19-4 career head-to-head advantage over the Swiss third seed.
Angelique Kerber has yet to lose a set in Flushing Meadows, but she has not faced the service firepower possessed by KarolinaPliskova, who has led the WTA Tour in aces in the last two seasons as well as at the US Open this year.
With Roger Federer missing due to injury, Andy Murray upset in the quarters and Rafael Nadal a fourth-round loser, Djokovic marches on in a quest for a 13th Grand Slam title without his familiar high profile rivals standing in the way.
Rediff.com gives you a peek of the big names who were in attendance of the US Open.
Karolina Pliskova ruined any chance of another Flushing Meadows sister showdown as she claimed a dramatic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) win over sixth-seeded Venus Williams on Monday to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
Serena Williams overpowered German Carina Witthoeft 6-2, 6-2 to set up a third-round clash with big sister Venus at the US Open on Wednesday.
Australia's Sam Stosur has split with her long-time coach David Taylor, the former U.S. Open champion said on Saturday.
Images from Day 5 of the US Open in New York on Friday
Already a sporting icon, Osaka's fight for equality has focussed even more attention on her
Leylah Fernandez's storybook US Open continued with yet another upset on Thursday, as the Canadian teenager shocked second seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam final.
Rediff.com takes a look at some interesting highlights of the tournament.
Defending champion Marin Cilic had to battle hard before beating Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 5-1 in their 3rd round match of the US Open on Friday.
A factor that could work in the Belgian's favour is the unprecedented nature of this year's Grand Slam.
Simona Halep did something no one else was able to do against Serena Williams at the US Open on Wednesday but still could not stop the world number one from advancing to the semi-finals of the year's final Grand Slam.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic fired 19 aces to topple Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4 and set up a second-round clash with either Dan Evans or Russian 10th seed Andrey Rublev.
Juan Martin del Potro's return to tennis fell short of a fairytale ending on Saturday as the Argentine lost to American Sam Querrey 7-5 7-5 in the semi-final of the Delray Beach Open. The former U.S. Open champion Del Potro made his comeback at Delray Beach after an 11-month layoff following two surgeries on his left wrist. He had looked strong in his run to the semi-finals but Querrey checked his momentum by breaking his powerful serve in each set at 5-5 -- the only two breaks of the match. Del Potro, 27, was aiming to recapture his magic at Delray Beach where he enjoyed comeback success by winning the 2011 title after fighting his way back form wrist surgery.
The 28-year-old said beating American great Williams was the finest win of her career, outstripping her upset of world number one Ash Barty at last year's US Open.
Halep finds groove to reach Prague semi-finals.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has disappointed athletes around the world but, if the coronavirus pandemic eases over the next few months, it could turn out to be a blessing for the tennis world.
Following is a list of Serena Williams' 23 grand slam singles titles after the American surpassed Steffi Graf's professional era record with victory at the Australian Open on Saturday:
IMAGES from Day 9 of the US Open matches played on Tuesday
German Kerber has not won a title since and will now drop out of the world's top 10.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza conquered US Open too with new partner Bruno Soares of Brazil in New York.
Factbox on Rafael Nadal, who beat Dominic Thiem to win his 12th French Open title:
Osaka, 20, shot to international fame on Saturday when she defeated 36-year-old American Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows to become the first Japanese player to claim a Grand Slam singles crown.
World number one Simona Halep was upset 6-2, 6-4 by unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the U.S. Open first round on Monday, the second consecutive year the Romanian has lost her opening match at Flushing Meadows.
The new crop of young players are poised for a Grand Slam breakthrough and New York's bright lights could provide the inspiration that finally gets one of them over the top, five-times US Open champion Roger Federer said on Friday.
Five-times champion Roger Federer reached his first US Open final in six years as he raced past fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 at Flushing Meadows in the semi-finals on Friday.
The 15-year-old American phenom was forced to dig deep to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1996 to reach the third round
Will it be Rafa versus Djoko in Sunday's final?
.jpg)
Eugenie Bouchard proved again she is a player for the big occasion by powering into the second round of the US Open with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Olga Govortsova on Tuesday, bringing a smile to the player hyped as the future face of women's tennis.
Verdasco questions French Open COVID-19 testing protocols after withdrawal
'I don't know. It's tough to explain my emotion right now. Maybe tomorrow morning I can tell you something, but now it's amazing'
Former champion Naomi Osaka is wearing a different facemask for each of her matches at the US Open this year.
'The governing bodies, especially Grand Slams, need to allocate enough funds to support lower-ranked players, low-level tournaments, futures, challengers and I believe there is enough funds for those too.'
'It's always going to be ... in the years to come, 'oh, you know that guy won a US Open in 2020 without fans'. I don't think it's going to have that weight... It wouldn't be the best scenario.'
Serena Williams has defeated her compatriot in four straight matches since a defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open.
Federer dismisses Nadal's suggestion to play ATP Finals on clay
IMAGES from Day 8 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Monday
'This has been an emotional week and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances