US Open 2009 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The top 16 seeds made it to the third round

Earlier in the summer, the men's seeds set a record too. The top 8 seeds reached the Montreal quarterfinals. However, the ability of all top 16 seeds to win their first two matches is stunning, and the draw was remarkably free of upsets for much of the tournament.

The players to make it through? Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, Gael Monfils, Tommy Robredo, Radek Stepanek, and Marin Cilic all survived their first two rounds.

Answer: Venus Williams

Dinara Safina was the one seed at the 2009 US Open, but her play belied that fact during her first three rounds. After splitting sets in the first two, she lost to unseeded Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6. This loss only added fuel to the critics of the Russian, who claimed that the number one player in the world should have at least one Grand Slam to her name.
Ana Ivanovic won the 2008 French Open over Safina and looked poised to take over the game after stealing the number one ranking from Sharapova. However, she lost in the second round of the 2008 US Open as the earliest exit from a major by a one seed in Open history. This season, ranked 11th, Ivanovic did even worse. She was eliminated in the first round by eventual quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko.
Jelena Jankovic hadn't won a Grand Slam either, but her second-place showing at the 2008 US Open earned her the No. 1 ranking soon after. Her counter-punching ability was defeated by Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

Answer: John Isner

Roddick and Isner had faced off earlier in the summer at the Legg Mason Classic, with Roddick triumphing in three sets, so Isner sought revenge over his fellow American. Predictably, the match became a serving duel that stretched for hours, and Isner won by a mini-break in the fifth-set tiebreaker after a Roddick double-fault on the first point. With a 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 win, Isner advanced to a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time in his career.

He was halted in the very next round by Fernando Verdasco in four sets.

Answer: Melanie Oudin

Melanie became the star of US tennis during the Open as she won upsets over more highly-ranked players through her great footwork, anticipation, and consistency. Her boyfriend, Austin (who was only 15 years old and is also a talented tennis player) wrote "Believe" on her tennis shoes, and it became her "motto" through the quarters.

There, Wozniacki used a combination of persistence and consistency that was more effective than Melanie's own, and the match was a short one, 6-2, 6-2. However, Melanie broke into the ranks of American female tennis players, a group that was previously held only by the Williams sisters.

Answer: Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro

Safin, the older brother of Dinara Safina, had a successful career including triumphs at the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open. Safin was well-known around the tennis community for his sense of humor, eccentricity, and poor court temperament.

He and his sister are the first brother-sister team to both achieve the No. 1 ranking in singles, though not at the same time. Santoro, whose singles success is eclipsed by his two Grand Slam titles in men's doubles (2003-2004 Australian Opens) and one in mixed (2005 French Open), is well-known for his happy temperament and strange shot combinations.

He uses two hands even for his forehand. Although he is right-handed, he uses a left-handed slice for his forehand. He has scored wins over Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, and Marat Safin had a 2-7 record against the Frenchman.

Answer: Semi-finals

Djokovic made it to the semi-finals after defeating Fernando Verdasco in the quarters, but Roger Federer stopped his run in a three-set encounter late Sunday afternoon. After a rain delay caused backups for the tournament, neither player had had a match for three days, and the first set contained a barrage of errors from both ends.

But it was Federer who eked out the win, 7-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Answer: After a linesman called a questionable footfault to set up match point, Serena earned a point penalty for a verbal abuse

Footfaults are rarely called at the pro level, and especially not on big points, but when a linesman called a double-fault on Serena to set up match point, the defending champion kept her cool, at first. Then, she cursed at the woman, who promptly reported the incident to the chair.

The official, who had given Serena a code of conduct warning for throwing her racquet at the end of the first set, called a point penalty, which ended the match.

Answer: It was Nadal's worst-ever loss in a Grand Slam event

While Nadal had been hampered all tournament long with an abdominal injury, Del Potro was out to prove himself to the New York crowd, and his play during the match was outstanding. Nadal was unable to serve to his full potential and his movement was severely limited by injury, but Del Potro defeated the Spaniard for the third time in 2009, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

This marked the first time that a player had beaten Nadal three times in one year.

Answer: Kim Clijsters

Talk about a comeback. Clijsters didn't have a ranking coming into the US Open, but she plowed through the draw relentlessly. After defeating Venus Williams in a bizarre 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 victory, she reached the semi-finals and beat Serena in a match filled with controversy.

In the final, she defeated young upstart Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 7-5, 6-3. Wozniacki was the first Dane, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam final. After the match, Clijsters held up her 18-month-old daughter Jada in triumph.

Answer: Del Potro: 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2

In an epic five-set battle between two of the game's best hard-courters, Del Potro became one of the youngest but also the tallest Grand Slam winner in history. After conceding the first set in a jitter of nerves, Del Potro fought back from a break down to win the second in a tiebreak. Federer was down a break in the third, but recovered it to take the set.

Although the Swiss was two points away from the championship at 5-6, 0-30 in the fourth, Del Potro held his nerve to force a fifth and decisive set.

After being broken at the start of the fifth, Federer never recovered from Del Potro's massive first serves and enormous forehand, which once clocked over 120 mph. In winning the title, Del Potro clinched a spot in the end of year World Tour Championship, and Federer boosted his chances of ending the season ranked first after his second place showing.