US Open: Farewell to Serena Williams - the biggest victories, the biggest scandals in New York
Serena Williams will end her glittering career at the US Open in 2022. We look back at their most legendary matches in New York.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Aug 28, 2022, 11:26 am
Hardly any tournament has produced as many mental images of Serena Williams as the US Open: Serena won here six times in total - but above all she also caused tangible scandals.
1999, final win against Martina Hingis - 6:3, 7:6 (4)
Serena's first major win ever, at just 17 years old. Back then with the white pearls in her hair. And a changing of the guard. Hingis should not win another major tournament after the Australian Open victory in 1999. Because finesse was now less popular - the Williams Sisters, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati won the big victories by force. Crazy: Serena won her first Grand Slam title before her older sister Venus, which gnawed at her. But Venus followed suit in 2000 with two major wins.
2002, final victory over sister Venus - 6:4, 6:3
It was the year of the "sister acts" and another changing of the guard. In the previous direct comparison, Venus was usually ahead (as in the US Open final in 2001), but Serena pulled away from 2002. She won all three major finals (French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) against Venus! It was only in the summer that Serena took over the top of the world rankings from her big sister.
2009, semi-final loss against Kim Clijsters - 4:6, 5:7
In the semifinals, Williams trailed comebacker Clijsters 4-6, 5-6, 15:30, then fabricated a foot fault (and thus a double fault) and threatened the linesman to stuff a ball down her throat and kill her. Result: points deducted - game, set and match for the Belgian. Who set out to win the final as well.
2011, final loss to Samantha Stosur, 2-6, 3-6
A hammer match by the Australian - of course with Williams drama. At the beginning of the second round, she thundered a forehand down the line and cheered energetically - the problem, however, was that Stosur was still able to get to the supposed winner. The point went to her and Williams had many altercations with referee Eva Asderaki, who accused her of being a "hater" and "unattractive on the inside".
2015, semi-final defeat against Roberta Vinci, 6:2, 4:6, 4:6
Everything was prepared for the "Grand Slam", the first since Steffi Graf in 1988: Williams had won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and in New York the door was apparently open, with the semifinals against the world number 43. Roberta Vinci. Williams couldn't handle the pressure, but Vinci played the tennis of her life and drove her opponent to despair with the wonderful backhand slice.
2018, final loss to Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 4-6
Osaka hit everything - and Williams realized early on that there was little in it. A coaching warning from Patrick Mouratoglou got the match going, Williams then smashed her racquet, calling referee Carlos Ramos a thief. Only Osaka stayed cool, even if her great role model Serena spoiled the wonderful feeling of having won the first Grand Slam tournament that evening. And as always, there was no insight into their bad behavior afterwards.
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