US Open: Roger Federer and Serena Williams rule the nights
At the first night session of the 2019 US Open, Serena Williams and Roger Federer are the legends that were most successful in these special circumstances.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Aug 25, 2019, 09:02 pm
By Jens Huiber from New York City
There are no coincidences, least of all when designing the schedule for a Grand Slam tournament. And so with Serena Williams and Roger Federer those two players deny the first night session of the 2019 US Open that historically performed best under the spotlight of New York City.
Since 1975, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year has also been played in the evenings, back then in Forest Hills. Not all players found the new circumstances appropriate to the event, especially Björn Borg, who lost to Jimmy Connors, Roscoe Tanner and John McEnroe for three consecutive years after moving to Flushing Meadows in 1978. Each time in matches that were scheduled for an evening event.
Roger Federer unbeaten for more than a decade
In the meantime, even after dark, it plays like in the early afternoon, minus the oppressive muggy and usually with less wind. There are always exceptions to this rule; last year Roger Federer had to surrender not only to John Millman in the fourth round, but also to the external circumstances. Seldom has the Maestro been seen so carried away that the fans placed in front of the player's bench couldn't help.
Nevertheless, Federer tops the list of victories for men in night sessions: the 38-year-old Swiss has triumphed 35 times in the evening, the first time in 2000 against Daniel Nestor. Federer remained undefeated for more than a decade, and it was only in 2012 that Tomas Berdych managed to defeat the five-time New York champion in a night session.
# BETATHOMEUSWIN #
Serena Williams begins with a defeat
Serena Williams, on the other hand, lost her night premiere to Irina Spirlea in 1998. Serena has received a staggering 47 chances from the organizers to present themselves to the New York public after work (the New York Times did very meticulous calculations). She turned 39 of them into victories, the youngest against Anastasija Sevastova 2018 in the semifinals. Serena had to fight Venus five times, only the first game won the older sister Williams.
The paths with Maria Sharapova will cross for Serena Williams for the first time in a night shift this Monday. Which is surprising in that the Russian has already played 24 floodlight matches on Arthur Ashe. Roger Federer, on the other hand, meets a freshman: Sumit Nagal only knows the legendary evening matches from TV.