By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
The 2015 US Open marks the 40th anniversary of night tennis at the US Open. On August 27, 1975, the US Open first played matches under the lights. The French Open previously experimented with night tennis in 1969, but the U.S. Open is the tournament where tennis under the lights is best exemplified
In the first night match played at the US Open, Onny Parun of New Zealand defeated Stan Smith of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in front of crowd of 4,949 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. With the move to the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows in 1978, night tennis flourished with the businessmen and businesswomen taking the subway and Long Island Rail Road to Flushing and families hopping in cars to take in the tennis at night. Said Andre Agassi of night play at the US Open, “It’s the single greatest atmosphere for tennis.”
Here is a look at the best night matches in the history of the US Open, excerpted largely from the “This Day In Tennis History” book and mobile app (www.TennisHistoryApp.com)
GREATEST US OPEN MEN’S NIGHT MATCHES
1979 – In a match described by Barry Lorge of The Washington Post as a “pulsating match that will undoubtedly be discussed for years to come when bizarre and dramatic tennis classics are relived,” Roscoe Tanner defeats No. 1 seed Bjorn Borg 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 under the lights at the USTA National Tennis Center avenging his loss to Borg in the Wimbledon final. Tanner fires 11 aces and 17 service winners in the match, which features an eight-minute delay due to the net breaking when hit with a 140 mph Tanner serve.
1991 – In the early hours of the morning (1:35 a.m. to be exact), Jimmy Connors defeats Patrick McEnroe 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in one of the most dramatic first round matches ever at the US Open. Connors, ranked No. 174 and five days shy of his 39th birthday, trails McEnroe 4-6, 6-7, 0-3, 0-40 before rallying to victory.
1991 – Jimmy Connors defeats Paul Haarhuis 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2 in the men’s quarterfinals. The highlight of the match came with Haarhui serving for a two-sets-to-love lead, but Connors holding break point at 30-40 when Connors retrieved four Haarhuis overheads before hitting a back-hand up-the-line passing shot to back Haarhuis back and change the momentum of the match in his favor.
1993 – Mats Wilander finally defeats Mikael Pernfors 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a four-hour-and-one-minute match that concludes at 2:26 a.m – the latest ever conclusion of a US Open match (later tied two times!). In the post-match press conference, when asked if he had ever played this late in the evening, Wilander dead-panned, “Played what?”
1998 – In a match concluded at 1:33 am, Carlos Moya defeats Michael Chang 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 in three-hours and fifty minutes. Moya, the reigning French Open champion, staves off three match points in the third set before prevailing in the fifth set.
1999 – Todd Martin stages one of the greatest comebacks in US Open history, defeating Greg Rusedski 5-7, 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16. Rusedski serves for the match at 5-4 in the third set and leads 4-1 in the fifth-set. Among chants of “Let’s Go Todd” from the evening crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Martin wins 20 of the final 21 points of the match to advance into the quarterfinals in a match that concludes at 12:50 am.
2000 – At 1:22 am, Todd Martin completes an incredible two-sets-to-love comeback to defeat former world No. 1 Carlos Moya of Spain 6-7 (3), 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the fourth round of men’s singles. Martin saves a match point at 6-5 in the fourth-set tie-break to win the fourth-round struggle in four hours and 17 minutes. Following the match, Martin laps center court and exchanges high-fives with the die-hard fans that stayed to the bitter end.
2001 – No. 1 seed Gustavo Kuerten finishes off a two-sets-to-love comeback at 12:17 am defeating Max Mirnyi 6-7 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-2 to become only the third No. 1 seeded man to come back from two-sets down in the Open era at the US Championships. Kuerten serves 33 aces and hits 104 winners and celebrates his victory with many flag-waving, singing Brazilian fans.
2001 – At 12:14 am, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi complete one of the greatest tennis matches of all time as Sampras completes a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) victory in the quarterfinals. Neither player has his serve broken in the three hour and 32 minute match. As the clock strikes midnight, the fourth set-tie break is played and both players received a standing ovation from the 23,033 fans in attendance.
2005 – Andre Agassi concludes one of the greatest matches in U.S. Open history at 1 o’clock in the morning, winning a fifth-set tie-breaker to cap a two-sets-to-love comeback win over James Blake 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the quarterfinals. Blake serves for the match at 5-4 in the final set and leads 3-0 in the fifth-set tie-breaker but is unable to close out the 35-year-old Agassi. Says Agassi to the fans courtside following the win, “At 1:15 in the morning for 20,000 people to still be here, I wasn’t the winner, tennis was.”
2006 – In the early hours of the morning, Andre Agassi closes out his 79th and final U.S. Open match victory, surviving a topsy-turvy, physically grueling second-round match against No. 8-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, winning by a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 scoreline. The 21-year-old Baghdatis breaks down physically in the fifth set against the 36-year-old Agassi, suffering from severe cramps in the ninth game of the final set, before Agassi prevails. Baghdatis, the Australian Open finalist, trails 0-4 in the fourth set, but rallies to force a decisive set.
2012 – John Isner loses to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third-round of the US Open, finishing at 2:26 am, tying the latest finish in U.S. Open history. On September 4, 1993 Mats Wilander defeats Mikael Pernfors 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a four hour, one minute match that also concluded at 2:26 am.
2014 – Kei Nishikori defeats Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 in four hours, 19 minutes in a fourth-round match at the U.S. Open that ends at 2:26 am, tying the tournament’s record for the latest finish. Nishikori and Raonic’s finish at the exact time as the 2012 match when Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated John Isner and the 1993 match when Mats Wilander defeated Mikael Pernfors. When asked by reporters if he was impressed by the late finish record, Raonic responds, “Not in the slightest bit.”
2014 – Roger Federer saves two match points and rallies to beat Gael Monfils 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in a dramatic U.S. Open quarterfinal that concludes just before midnight. Monfils leads 5-4 in the fourth set and holds two match points before Federer fights back to win in a comfortable fifth set, coming back from 0-2 down for the ninth time in his career. “I feel lucky to be able to do a press conference as the winner instead of the loser,” Federer tells reporters. “But I’m also proud that I fought and stayed with him. The problem was that I was just one point from the end.”
GREATEST US OPEN WOMEN’S NIGHT MATCHES
1991 – Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Capriati advances to her first US Open semifinal with a 6-3, 7-6 upset win over defending champion Gabriela Sabatini.
1992 – Martina Navratilova fends off the furious rally from the smiling and jovial Shaun Stafford in a dramatic 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 first round victory. Navratilova twice served for the match in the third set at 5-2, but Stafford was able to reel off an impressive run of winners to tie the match at 5-5, before Navratilova held on for victory.
1998 – Patty Schnyder defeats Steffi Graf 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 16 in what ultimately becomes Graf’s final match at the US Open. Graf announces her retirement 11 months later on August 13, 1999.
2001 – Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams battle for two hours and 14 minutes in the women’s quarterfinals, before Williams emerges victorious with a 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win.
2001 – Venus Williams wins her second US Open singles title defeating younger sister Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the first ever all-sister US singles final in the first ever prime time Grand Slam singles final. Diana Ross opens the magical evening at the USTA National Tennis Center by singing “God Bless America.”
2002 – For the second consecutive year, sisters Venus and Serena Williams meet in a prime time US Open women’s singles final. However, unlike 2001, younger sister Serena turns the tables on her older sister, defeating the two-time defending champion 6-4, 6-3 to win her second US Open women’s singles title.
2003 –Justine Henin-Hardenne becomes the first Belgian to win a U.S. title, defeating countrywoman Kim Cljisters 7-5, 6-1 in the women’s singles final.
2003 – Justine Henin-Hardenne finally defeats Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the women’s semifinal in a match that concludes at 12:27 a.m. The match lasts three-hours and three-minutes with Capriati serving for both the match in both in the second and third sets and being two points from winning the match 11 times. Capriati and Henin-Hardenne both won 127 points in the match.
2004 – Jennifer Capriati benefits from 57 unforced errors from Serena Williams and a much-discussed and analyzed bad line call to defeat Williams 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the women’s quarterfinals at the US Open. At deuce in the first game of the third set, Williams struck a backhand up the line that was called out my chair umpire Mariana Alves called out, but television replays showed that the ball was one or two inches inside the line. Capriati would go on to break Williams serve for a 1-0 lead, only to be broken back for 1-1 in the next game. Capriati would again break Williams serve to go up a service break at 2-1 in the third set. Capriati would then hold her lead before closing out the three-set victory.
2004 – Svetlana Kuznetsova becomes the first Russian woman to win the US Open when she defeats countrywoman Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-5 in the women’s singles final. The women’s final is played on the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and both Russian finalists pay tribute in pre-match and post-match activities. Kuznetsova enter stadium court for the final wearing an FDNY hat for the Fire Department of New York, while Elena Dementieva wears a NYPD hat to honor the New York Police Department. In post-match speeches, both players pay tribute the heroes and victims of Sept. 11 as well as the Russian school massacre 11 days earlier in Beslan, Russia.
2006 – Maria Sharapova, seeded No. 3, beats No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 to win the U.S. Open women’s singles title, her second major singles title. “This is an amazing honor,” Sharapova says. “I’m so happy that it’s here in New York, my favorite city in the world, in front of the best fans.”
2008 – Outside the top 125 at this time in 2006, Serena Williams, ranked outside of the top 125 in the world two years earlier, completes her journey back to the No. 1 ranking with a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Jelena Jankovic to win her third U.S. Open title. “I can’t believe I’m No. 1,” Serena says. “It’s been so long.”
2009 – In one of the most unusual conclusions to a match in major tournament history, Serena Williams is assessed a point-penalty on match point to lose to Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Serving at 5-6 in the second set, Williams is called for a foot fault on her second-serve, giving Clijsters double-match point. Williams approaches the line judge who makes the call and berates her. Liz Robbins from the New York Times calls it “a shocking display of vitriol and profanity toward a line judge at the most inopportune time” and Williams was assessed a point penalty for unsportsmanslike conduct, thus awarding the match to Clijsters. “It’s just unfortunate that a battle like that has to end like that,” says Clijsters.
