2009 US Open (tennis)

The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009, in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the men's singles final match on Sunday, September 13, but due to rain the tournament was extended by one day. Like the Australian Open, the tournament featured night matches.

Former World No. 1 and 2005 US Open women's singles champion, Kim Clijsters, competed in the 2009 US Open after being granted a wild card entry, returning to professional tennis after more than two years of retirement. She made it to the women's singles semi-finals, where she knocked out the defending champion Serena Williams in controversial circumstances. In the final, Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki, the first Dane, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, in straight sets: 7–5, 6–3. Clijsters thus became the first mother to win a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. In the process, she also became the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament.

In the men's singles final, five-time defending champion Roger Federer lost to Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro in a match lasting over four hours.

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day

The Arthur Ashe Kids' Day was held on August 29, 2009, prior to the start of the tournament. It featured an exhibition tennis match involving American player Andy Roddick and Great Britain's Andy Murray, who were joined by actor and comedian Will Ferrell. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks performed her hit single "Battlefield", along with rising stars Honor Society and Justin Bieber. There were also tennis matches and contests featuring Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, and James Blake. The popular tennis and music festival, which included interactive games, musical entertainment and tennis clinics, was hosted by television personalities Susie Castillo and Quddus.

Singles players

Men's singles

Women's singles

Player of the day

• Day 1: Belgium Kim Clijsters, for winning her first match at the US Open in 4 years.
• Day 2: United States Jesse Witten, for defeating 29th-seeded Russia Igor Andreev 6–4, 6–0, 6–2 his first career win at a Grand Slam at the age of 26 and ranked 276.
• Day 3: Italy Flavia Pennetta, for defeating India Sania Mirza 6–0, 6–0, which was her third consecutive 6–0 set.
• Day 4: United States Melanie Oudin, ranked 70th, for eliminating world #4 Russia Elena Dementieva, after losing the first set and overcoming a thigh injury to win the final set.
• Day 5: Italy Francesca Schiavone, for defeating #8 seed Belarus Victoria Azarenka despite losing the first set.
• Day 6: United States Melanie Oudin, for defeating former world #1 and the 29th seed Russia Maria Sharapova, losing the first set and winning 7–5 in the third.
• Day 7: France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, For reaching the round of 16 for the first time, and for not dropping a set to this point.
• Day 8: Ukraine Kateryna Bondarenko, for beating Argentina Gisela Dulko in only 47 minutes 6–0, 6–0, advancing to her first grand slam quarterfinal.
• Day 9: Croatia Marin Čilić, for defeating ATP No. 2 United Kingdom Andy Murray in three sets.
• Day 10: Belgium Yanina Wickmayer, for defeating Ukraine Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets and becoming the second Belgian player in the semifinals.
• Day 11: Argentina Juan Martín del Potro, for defeating Croatia Marin Čilić in four sets to advance to the semifinals of the US Open for the first time.
• Day 12: No matches played due to rain.
• Day 13: Denmark Caroline Wozniacki, for beating Belgium Yanina Wickmayer 6–3, 6–3 in the semifinals, thus becoming the first Dane, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.
• Day 14: Switzerland Roger Federer, for beating Serbia Novak Djokovic in the semifinals 7–6(7–3), 7–5, 7–5, thus reaching his 21st Grand Slam and 6th consecutive US Open final.
• Day 15: Argentina Juan Martín del Potro, for winning his first Grand Slam title, ending Switzerland Roger Federer's streak of consecutive US Open championships at five.

Day-by-day summaries

Day 1 (August 31)

The first day of the tournaments saw many seeds get through pretty easily in straight sets: Roger Federer, James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Nikolay Davydenko and Radek Štěpánek. The day also produced a couple of upsets, when Mikhail Youzhny continued 26th seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu's horrible US Open record by beating him in four. While, tall American John Isner did the same to 28th seeded Victor Hănescu by ending the Romanian's 2009 bid in three with the second set going to a tie-break 16–14. The exciting day continued with a couple of five-set marathons, with Simon Greul defeating Giovanni Lapentti, Guillermo García López out-lasting Peter Polansky, and Jan Hernych surviving against Rainer Schüttler. The days last match featured America's hope Andy Roddick prevailing over Björn Phau in straight sets in a match that started at 11:00 pm.

On the women's side, former world no. 1 Kim Clijsters opened the play, winning over Viktoriya Kutuzova losing only two games. Joining her were defending 2009 Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, Elena Vesnina, Agnieszka Radwańska, Li Na and Marion Bartoli who all won in two sets. Australian Samantha Stosur was pushed by veteran player Ai Sugiyama in three sets, Daniela Hantuchová got past American Meghann Shaughnessy in three as well. In the first night match, Venus Williams was able to claw her way to avoid an upset to win against Russian Vera Dushevina in a very close three-setter. Venus committed four foot faults in the match. With Venus and Serena getting past the first round, a few American players saw success on the women's side with Vania King, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Jill Craybas getting to the second round. Austrian and 28th seeded Sybille Bammer, who defeated Serena Williams in Cincinnati, and 25th seeded Kaia Kanepi were the only casualties of the day.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: France Paul-Henri Mathieu [26], Romania Victor Hănescu [28] Women's singles: Estonia Kaia Kanepi [25], Austria Sybille Bammer [28]

Day 2 (September 1)

On the men's side, many seeded players got through in straight sets: 2008 US Open runner-up Andy Murray, 2008 Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic, Tomáš Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando González, and Fernando Verdasco. No. 30 seed Victor Troicki survived a five-set scare, 6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6, 6–1. However, some seeds failed to be as lucky and fell in the first round with Ivo Karlović falling to Iván Navarro and Igor Andreev falling to American Jesse Witten, both in straight sets, while Stan Wawrinka fell in five. American players were once again successful, with 5 out of the 11 getting past the first round: Sam Querrey, Kevin Kim, Jesse Witten, Jesse Levine, and Taylor Dent.

On the women's side, the first major upset of the tournament occurred with Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko upsetting 11th seed and former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic committed 50 unforced errors. In the second round, her sister Alona Bondarenko, 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova and Tathiana Garbin all advanced. Other seeded players that were eliminated in the first round were 32nd seed Ágnes Szávay, losing to Israeli Shahar Pe'er in straight sets, Alisa Kleybanova, losing to Petra Kvitová in three and Virginie Razzano losing to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. Day 2 was a good day for women American players with three out of five getting through: Melanie Oudin, Shenay Perry, and Christina McHale. However, world no. 1 Dinara Safina struggled in her match against Olivia Rogowska but manage to survive, winning in three sets

On the doubles side, the day was led by 2nd seeded Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić, who won in straight sets, and the only seeds that were eliminated were No. 15 seed Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: Switzerland Stan Wawrinka [19], Croatia Ivo Karlović [27], Russia Igor Andreev [29] Women's singles: Serbia Ana Ivanovic [11], France Virginie Razzano [16], Russia Alisa Kleybanova [27], Hungary Ágnes Szávay [32] Men's doubles: Australia Stephen Huss / United Kingdom Ross Hutchins [15]

Day 3 (September 2)

The men's side saw Rafael Nadal playing his first match at the 2009 US Open and winning against his friend Richard Gasquet. He was joined by no. 1 seed Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Gaël Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Gilles Simon, who all won in straight sets, while David Ferrer, Nicolás Almagro and American Robby Ginepri won in 4. Joining them was Austrian Jürgen Melzer, who defeated Marat Safin in Safin's last Grand Slam match.

On the women's side, upsets continued with Amélie Mauresmo falling to Aleksandra Wozniak, Anabel Medina Garrigues losing to Kirsten Flipkens, and dark horse favorite Australian Samantha Stosur losing to American Vania King, all in straight sets, while Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwańska both fell to resurging players Kim Clijsters and Maria Kirilenko in three. However, the day also saw half of the seeds getting through easily and was led by former champion Venus Williams and Flavia Pennetta, who won in double bagel, Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Elena Vesnina, and Li Na. The day ended for the first time in over 30 years in the US Open history by a women's match, which saw Serena Williams dispatching Melinda Czink in just 53 minutes.

On the doubles side, there were a couple of major upsets: sixth seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, fell in their opening round, as well as unseeded world no. 8 in doubles Lisa Raymond and her partner Shenay Perry.

• Seeds out: Women's singles: Poland Agnieszka Radwańska [12], France Marion Bartoli [14], Australia Samantha Stosur [15], France Amélie Mauresmo [17], Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues [20] Men's doubles: Poland Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Poland Marcin Matkowski [6], Australia Ashley Fisher / Australia Jordan Kerr [14] Women's doubles: United States Raquel Kops-Jones / United States Abigail Spears [15]

Day 4 (September 3)

Day 4 continued the success of the top men's seeds, with no. 4 seed Novak Djokovic dispatching Carsten Ball 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. He was joined by 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Söderling, 2009 French Open semifinalist Tommy Haas, 2009 Hamburg Open Champion Nikolay Davydenko, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Tommy Robredo. The Americans once again took advantage of their home court, with four of them winning their matches: James Blake surviving against Olivier Rochus in four, with Blake committing 53 unforced errors, John Isner, Jesse Witten, and Sam Querrey. Andy Roddick once again got through easily against Marc Gicquel 6–1, 6–4, 6–4. He produced 33 winners and only 10 unforced errors in the last match of the night.

The women's side received a lot of buzz, with 17-year-old American Melanie Oudin upsetting hot favorite and US Open Series champion Elena Dementieva in the second round. Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan upset last year's runner-up Jelena Janković in three sets. Seeded players who joined Dementieva and Janković were Alona Bondarenko, who lost to Gisela Dulko, and Patty Schnyder, who lost in straight sets, while Sabine Lisicki lost in three to the last Australian and qualifier on the draw Anastasia Rodionova. No. 1 seed Dinara Safina once again survived a scare from Kristina Barrois, winning 6(5)–7, 6–2, 6–3. However, a few seeded players got through quite easily, led by Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova, and Danish player Caroline Wozniacki. Unseeded players who got through in straight sets were Kateryna Bondarenko, who eliminated Ivanovic, Shahar Pe'er, Sara Errani, and Petra Kvitová.

On the doubles side, it was the opposite, with all of the women's doubles seeds getting through. However, on the men's side, the highest seeded players who fell were no. 9 seeded Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach, losing to veteran doubles players Leoš Friedl and Jaroslav Levinský.

• Seeds out: Women's singles: Russia Elena Dementieva [4], Serbia Jelena Janković [5], Switzerland Patty Schnyder [19], Germany Sabine Lisicki [23], Ukraine Alona Bondarenko [30] Men's doubles: Poland Łukasz Kubot / Austria Oliver Marach [9], Sweden Simon Aspelin / Australia Paul Hanley [12], United States Travis Parrott / Slovakia Filip Polášek [13]

Day 5 (September 4)

The fifth day of the US Open saw many seeds struggle on the men's side, with no. 30 seed Viktor Troicki losing to Julien Benneteau in four sets, and no. 18 seed David Ferrer losing to José Acasuso in five sets. This day also saw Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray struggle with their matches, with both of them being pushed to four sets. A couple of seeds were also pushed to four: Tomáš Berdych and Fernando González. No. 24 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and no. 16 seed Marin Čilić both survived their matches, despite losing the first two sets. Many victors were pushed to five sets: Nicolás Almagro, a returning Taylor Dent, and Denis Istomin. Although many seeds struggled, French seeds got through easily with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils, and Gilles Simon winning their matches on straight sets. They were joined by Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who also won in straight sets.

On the women's side, Victoria Azarenka lost to Italian Francesca Schiavone in three sets after Azarenka double-faulted on a match point. The rest of the matches were all won in straight sets, led by Serena Williams, who defeated María José Martínez Sánchez, who had a controversial match at the 2009 French Open. She was joined by Daniela Hantuchová, who crushed American Vania King, Li Na, Kim Clijsters, Flavia Pennetta, and Venus Williams. Elena Vesnina lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva.

On the women's side, seventh seeded Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai were ousted by the American team of Alexa Glatch and Carly Gullickson. They were followed by no. 14 seed Sania Mirza and Francesca Schiavone, who lost to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko in a tight three-setter.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: Spain David Ferrer [18], Serbia Viktor Troicki [30] Women's singles: Belarus Victoria Azarenka [8], Russia Elena Vesnina [31] Women's doubles: Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei / China Peng Shuai [7], India Sania Mirza / Italy Francesca Schiavone [14] Mixed doubles: Russia Nadia Petrova / Belarus Max Mirnyi [6]

Day 6 (September 5)

Five-time defending champion Swiss Roger Federer took out the 2001 Champion Lleyton Hewitt in four sets after losing the first to set up a match-up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, who beat American James Blake in three sets. Swede Robin Söderling took out the young American Sam Querrey in four sets in order to advance to face Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round, who won his match against Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets. One-time slam champion Novak Djokovic won in a four-set match after losing the first set against American qualifier Jesse Witten in order to advance to the fourth round against Czech Radek Štěpánek, who won in a match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets after losing the first. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco sent German Tommy Haas packing in a brutal five-set match, Verdasco met American John Isner in the next round because Isner eliminated the 2003 champion Andy Roddick from the tournament in another five-set battle.

American Melanie Oudin defeated three-time slam champion and 2006 US Open Champion Russian Maria Sharapova in three sets, losing the first and winning the next two to advance into the fourth round. Russian Nadia Petrova defeated Chinese Zheng Jie 6–4, 6–1 to set up a match with Melanie Oudin in the fourth round. Danish Caroline Wozniacki took out doubles partner Romanian Sorana Cîrstea in the third round in 6–3, 6–2, which allowed her to set up a match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, after Kuznetsova beat Israeli Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 6–1. Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko bested Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova in the third round 7-6(7–4), 6–4, which allowed her to meet Argentine Gisela Dulko, who beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 6–4. Czech Petra Kvitová took down top-seeded world no. 1 Russian Dinara Safina in three up-and-down sets 4–6, 6–2, 7-6(7–5). This set up a fourth-round match with Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who took down Italian Sara Errani with a score of 6–3, 6–4.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: United States Andy Roddick [5], Germany Tommy Haas [20], United States James Blake [21], United States Sam Querrey [22], Germany Philipp Kohlschreiber [23], Australia Lleyton Hewitt [31] Women's singles: Russia Dinara Safina [1], China Zheng Jie [21], Romania Sorana Cîrstea [24], Russia Maria Sharapova [29] Men's doubles: Brazil Bruno Soares / Zimbabwe Kevin Ullyett [8], Czech Republic František Čermák / Slovakia Michal Mertiňák [10], Brazil Marcelo Melo / Brazil André Sá [16]

Day 7 (September 6)

Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Nicolás Almagro played in a third-round match which was won in straight sets by Rafael Nadal, who would face Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the fourth round. Monfils beat Argentine José Acasuso in straight sets. Chilean Fernando González won in straight sets against Czech Tomáš Berdych and would face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau in straight sets. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero won over higher-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon. Ferrero advanced to play Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who won in four sets over Austrian Daniel Köllerer. Croatian Marin Čilić won in three easy sets over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan to face Briton Andy Murray, who beat American Taylor Dent in three sets.

American Serena Williams beat Slovakian Daniela Hantuchová in two sets that totaled 64 minutes of action to face in the quarterfinals Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat Russian Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva had six match points in the second set, but had a meltdown and lost the third set 6–0. Chinese Li Na won in two sets over Italian Francesca Schiavone. Na advanced to play wild-card Belgian Kim Clijsters, who took down third-seeded Venus Williams in three sets after two love games, 6-0 for Clijsters and 0-6 for Venus Williams. The third set went to Clijsters in one break of Venus's serve 6–4.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: France Gilles Simon [9], Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych [17], Spain Nicolás Almagro [32] Women's singles: United States Venus Williams [3], Russia Vera Zvonareva [7], Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová [22], Italy Francesca Schiavone [26] Men's doubles: Czech Republic Martin Damm / Sweden Robert Lindstedt [11] Women's doubles: Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues / Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual [2], Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld / Switzerland Patty Schnyder [9]

Day 8 (September 7)

Swede Robin Söderling advanced to the quarterfinals with a retirement of Russian Nikolay Davydenko to face the Swiss Roger Federer, who beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This would mark the third time the duo of Federer and Söderling has met in a Grand Slam in 2009, including the 2009 French Open final and the 2009 Wimbledon Championships fourth round, which were both won by Federer. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco beat American John Isner to advance into the quarterfinals, which means for the first time in US Open history no American male advanced into the quarterfinals of the tournament. Verdasco would face Serbian Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals because Djokovic took down Czech Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. After defeating Štěpánek, Djokovic provided a light-hearted moment for the crowd along with former tennis great and current commentator John McEnroe. Djokovic began by impersonating McEnroe, who grew up in the nearby Queens neighborhood of Douglaston. He then motioned for McEnroe to come down from the press box; McEnroe obliged, mimicking some of Djokovic's mannerisms before the two played a few points. The two then embraced at the net.

The first match featured Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko making quick work of Argentine Gisela Dulko in double-bagel sets in 47 minutes. Dulko had beaten Bondarenko's sister, Alona Bondarenko, in the second round. with Dulko making 20 unforced errors compared to Bondarenko's 6, while Bondarenko made 17 winners to Dulko's 7. Melanie Oudin advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 1–6, 7–6, 6–3 win over No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova. Belgian Yanina Wickmayer won in a three-set match against Czech Petra Kvitová to advance into the quarterfinals, making two Belgians who have advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2003 US Open tournament. Wickmayer took advantage of the Czech's unforced errors and won the match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 2–6, 7–6, 7–6 in an absorbing contest that kicked off Monday's night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: Russia Nikolay Davydenko [8], Spain Tommy Robredo [14], Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek [15] Women's singles: Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova [6], Russia Nadia Petrova [13] Women's singles: Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová / Japan Ai Sugiyama [5], United States Vania King / Romania Monica Niculescu [12] Mixed doubles: United States Lisa Raymond / Poland Marcin Matkowski [3], Australia Rennae Stubbs / Sweden Robert Lindstedt [7], United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Serbia Nenad Zimonjić [8]

Day 9 (September 8)

In the fourth round of men's singles, Juan Martín del Potro won in straight sets over 2003 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3, 6–3, 6–3. This set up a quarterfinal clash with Marin Čilić, who upset second-seeded Andy Murray in straight sets as well. In a closely contested match Fernando González prevailed over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. The 11th-seeded Gonzalez advanced to his second US Open quarterfinal, having reached this stage seven years ago. This set up a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals who outlasted the last Frenchman Gaël Monfils in four sets.

Belgian wild-card Kim Clijsters won over Chinese Li Na in two sets 6–2, 6–4 to make it to the semifinals. The next match featured American Serena Williams who defeated a gritty competitor in Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals in two hard-fought sets. This set up a meeting in the semifinals with Clijsters, who defeated Serena's sister Venus in the fourth round.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: United Kingdom Andy Murray [2], France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [7], France Gaël Monfils [13], Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero [24] Women's singles: Italy Flavia Pennetta [10], China Li Na [18] Men's doubles: Canada Daniel Nestor / Serbia Nenad Zimonjić [2], South Africa Wesley Moodie / Belgium Dick Norman [7] Women's doubles: United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Russia Nadia Petrova [8], Russia Maria Kirilenko / Russia Elena Vesnina [10] Mixed doubles: United States Liezel Huber / India Mahesh Bhupathi [1], Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei / Zimbabwe Kevin Ullyett [5]

Day 10 (September 9)

The first quarterfinals match in the Men's side featured no. 4 seed Novak Djokovic taking on no. 10 seed Fernando Verdasco, with Novak Djokovic prevailing over Fernando Verdasco 7–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–2 to reach his third straight semi-finals in the US Open. The next match saw Robin Söderling against Roger Federer. Federer defeated Söderling in four sets: 6–0, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.

The third quarterfinals match and the first of the day for the Women's side featured Belgian Yanina Wickmayer beating Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in two sets, joining Belgian Kim Clijsters in the semi-finals. This set up a semifinal match with Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, who defeated American Melanie Oudin in two sets 6–2, 6–2.

• Seeds out: Men's singles: Spain Fernando Verdasco [10], Sweden Robin Söderling [12] Men's doubles: United States Bob Bryan / United States Mike Bryan [1], Belarus Max Mirnyi / Israel Andy Ram [5] Women's doubles: Spain Nuria Llagostera Vives / Spain María José Martínez Sánchez [6], China Yan Zi / China Zheng Jie [11]

Day 11 (September 10)

Argentinie Juan Martín del Potro defeated Croatian Marin Čilić in four sets and became the third of his country to qualify for the semifinals (after Vilas and Nalbandian). The other quarterfinal match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando González was suspended due to bad weather and would be resumed on Friday. Rafael Nadal was leading 7-6(4), 6-6(3–2) when play was stopped.

The Williams sisters defeated Russians Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and qualified for the final. The mixed doubles final saw Americans Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott claim the title in straight sets over Zimbabwe's Cara Black and Indian Leander Paes.

Seeded players out

• Men's Singles: Croatia Marin Čilić
• Women's Doubles: Russia Alisa Kleybanova / Russia Ekaterina Makarova
• Mixed Doubles: Zimbabwe Cara Black / India Leander Paes

Day 12 (September 11)

All the matches that should have been played this day were postponed due to the continued rain.

Day 13 (September 12)

Rafael Nadal needed 34 minutes to finish off Fernando González in their rain-interrupted quarterfinal, advancing 7–6, 7–6, 6–0 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Nadal led 7-6 and 3–2 in a second-set tiebreak when play was called off late Thursday evening. Precipitation throughout a gloomy Friday rendered play impossible, throwing the schedule into chaos and prompting a resumption on Saturday at noon.

Kim Clijsters won an entry into the women's singles final after a dramatic ending to her semifinal against Serena Williams. After losing the first set 4–6, Williams smashed her racquet into the ground, giving her a code violation warning for racquet abuse from the chair umpire. In the second set, down 5–6 (15–30), Williams had a foot fault called on her second serve, giving Clijsters two match points at 15–40. Williams started yelling at the line umpire, who reported to the chair umpire. As a result, she was penalized for another code violation, for unsportsmanlike conduct, meaning a point penalty for Williams, which meant that Clijsters was awarded the match 6–4 7–5 without playing the match point. Williams later admitted that she was "pretty sure" she did foot fault. After securing her thirteenth straight win at the US Open, Clijsters went on to play Danish youngster Caroline Wozniacki in the final, who beat her unseeded opponent Yanina Wickmayer 6–3 6–3.

Seeded players out

• Men's Singles: Chile Fernando González
• Women's Singles: United States Serena Williams

Day 14 (September 13)

In the first match, Juan Martín del Potro defeated third-ranked Rafael Nadal easily, winning 6–2, 6–2, 6-2 and became the first finalist of the men's singles tournament. Del Potro's convincing victory, which echoed Caroline Wozniacki's takedown of crowd favorite Melanie Oudin in the quarterfinals, set the twenty-year-old Argentine up for his first Grand Slam final.

In the second semifinal of the women's doubles championship Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in three sets and they became finalist of the championship to defend which they got in 2008.

Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes won the men's doubles defeating Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles also in three sets.

Del Potro's opponent in the men's championship match was decided in a contest between world number one Roger Federer and fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic, who lost to Federer in the final of the 2007 U.S. Open. Federer dispatched his opponent in straight sets, winning 7-6(3), 7–5, 7–5, to round out the final two players remaining from an original draw of 128 men's professional tennis players.

In the women's final, unranked Kim Clijsters capped off an impressive return to professional tennis with a win over ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, winning 7–5, 6–3, for her second Grand Slam title.

Seeded players out

• Men's Singles: Spain Rafael Nadal, Serbia Novak Djokovic
• Women's Singles: Denmark Caroline Wozniacki
• Men's Doubles: India Mahesh Bhupathi / The Bahamas Mark Knowles
• Women's Doubles: Australia Samantha Stosur / Australia Rennae Stubbs

Day 15 (September 14)

The Williams sisters beat Cara Black and Liezel Huber in straight sets to win the women's doubles championship, 6-2 6–2.

Juan Martín del Potro defeated Roger Federer in five sets. In so doing he became the third Argentine to win the US Open title, and the first South American to win a men's Grand Slam event on a hard court.

There was some controversy during the presentation ceremony when the Master of Ceremonies initially refused to allow del Potro the time to speak in Spanish as he was under pressure from his American television network, CBS, to get the ceremony over with so that it could return to its regularly scheduled programming.

Seeded players out

• Men's Singles: Switzerland Roger Federer
• Women's Doubles: Zimbabwe Cara Black / United States Liezel Huber

Seniors

Men's singles

Argentina Juan Martín del Potro defeated Switzerland Roger Federer, 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–2

• Del Potro won his 3rd title of the year, 7th overall, and 1st and only Grand Slam title.
• Del Potro became the fourth Argentine player, after Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini and Gastón Gaudio, to win the Grand Slam final.

Women's singles

Belgium Kim Clijsters defeated Denmark Caroline Wozniacki, 7–5, 6–3

• Clijsters won for the first time this year and 35th overall. It was her 2nd career Grand Slam, having previously won the 2005 US Open.
• Wozniacki became the first Danish female tennis player to reach the Grand Slam final, and first in the Open Era.

Men's doubles

Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý / India Leander Paes defeated India Mahesh Bhupathi / The Bahamas Mark Knowles, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2

• This was the pair of Dlouhý and Paes first US Open Men's Doubles title together, which this is the second slam doubles title they won this year along with the French title.

Women's doubles

United States Serena Williams / United States Venus Williams defeated Zimbabwe Cara Black / United States Liezel Huber, 6–2, 6–2

• This was the Williams' Sisters second US Open Women's Doubles title, and was the third doubles slam title they won this year along with the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Mixed doubles

United States Carly Gullickson / United States Travis Parrott defeated Zimbabwe Cara Black / India Leander Paes, 6–2, 6–4.

• This was the first ever slam title for the pair of Gullickson and Parrott.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Australia Bernard Tomic defeated United States Chase Buchanan, 6–1, 6–3.

Girls' singles

United Kingdom Heather Watson defeated Russia Yana Buchina, 6–4, 6–1.

Boys' doubles

Hungary Márton Fucsovics / Chinese Taipei Hsieh Cheng-peng defeated France Julien Obry / France Adrien Puget, 7–6(5), 5–7, [10–1]

Girls' doubles

Russia Valeria Solovieva / Ukraine Maryna Zanevska defeated Romania Elena Bogdan / Thailand Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 1–6, 6–3, [10–7]

Wheelchair

Wheelchair men's singles

Japan Shingo Kunieda defeated Netherlands Maikel Scheffers, 6–0, 6–0

Wheelchair women's singles

Netherlands Esther Vergeer defeated Netherlands Korie Homan, 6–0, 6–0

Wheelchair men's doubles

France Stéphane Houdet / Sweden Stefan Olsson defeated Netherlands Maikel Scheffers / Netherlands Ronald Vink, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4

Wheelchair women's doubles

Netherlands Korie Homan / Netherlands Esther Vergeer defeated Australia Daniela DiToro / France Florence Gravellier, 6–2, 6–2

Wheelchair quad singles

United Kingdom Peter Norfolk defeated United States David Wagner, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3

Wheelchair quad doubles

United States Nick Taylor / United States David Wagner defeated Sweden Johan Andersson / United Kingdom Peter Norfolk, 6–1, 6–7(5), 6–3

Seeds

Withdrawals: David Nalbandian, Dominika Cibulková, Mardy Fish

Wildcard entries

Below are the lists of the wildcard awardees entering in the main draw.

Mixed doubles wildcard entries

1. United States Mallory Cecil / United States Devin Britton
2. United States Jill Craybas / United States Eric Butorac
3. United States Carly Gullickson / United States Travis Parrott (champions)
4. United States Angela Haynes / United States Travis Rettenmaier
5. United States Melanie Oudin / United States Rajeev Ram
6. United States Shenay Perry / United States Scoville Jenkins
7. United States Abigail Spears / United States Robert Kendrick

Qualifiers

Below are the lists of the qualifiers entering the main draw.

Protected ranking

The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:

Withdrawals

Prize money

Media coverage

External links