by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
With the 2022 U.S. Open being the swan-song for Serena Williams, I’ve scoured my “On This Day In Tennis” collection to come up with the greatest wins and most dramatic losses in the wide-ranging tennis career for Williams at the USTA National Tennis Center.
SERENA’S GREATEST WINS
2014 – Serena Williams wins the U.S. Open for a sixth time and for a third year in a row defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 in the final. At age 32, Williams becomes the oldest woman to win the U.S. Open in the Open Era and also earns her 18th major singles title, tying her for fourth place all time with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who congratulate her on court during the post-match ceremonies and present her with a Tiffany bracelet.
2013 – In the longest U.S. Open women’s final on record, Serena Williams wins her fifth U.S. Open women’s singles title with a 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka in two hours and 45 minutes. The win is the 17th major singles title for Williams, who earns $3.6 million with the title that includes a $1 million bonus for winning the U.S. Open Series of events leading into the event. Says Williams, “I think my dad got me into tennis because of the money, but me being naïve and silly, I never thought about it. I just thought I want to win. I wanted to do what (sister) Venus does.”
2012 – Serena Williams win her 15th major singles title and fourth U.S. Open defeating with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win over world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who fails to serve out the match while leading 5-4 in the final set. “I was preparing my runners-up speech,” says Williams of the final stages of one of the most exciting U.S. women’s final. Writes Chris Clarey with the New York Times, “Although Azarenka had done an often-admirable job of coping with Williams’s first-strike pressure in this big-swinging final, she could not quite handle the chance to win her first United States Open.”
2008 – Serena Williams defeats Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 to win the U.S. Open for a third time for her ninth major singles title and to return her to No. 1 world ranking, two years removed from being ranked outside the top 125. “I’m pushing the doors to double digits, which I obviously want to get to,” says Williams of her major singles count after winning in New York without losing a set and dropping only 40 games in all. Jankovic has four set points in the second set while serving at 5-4 but is unable to convert. Says Jankovic, “I gave her a lot of gifts when it was crucial.”
2002 – For the second consecutive year, sisters Venus and Serena Williams meet in a prime-time U.S. 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.
1999 – Seventeen-year-old Serena Williams becomes the first black woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a major singles title, defeating Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the U.S. Open women’s singles final. Says Williams of her post-match victory reaction, “It was pretty exciting I’m thinking, ‘Should I scream? Should I yell? Should I cry? What should I do?’ I guess I ended up doing them all.”
1999 – In a battle of teenagers and future U.S. Open champions, 17-year-old Serena Williams, the eventual champion, defeats 16-year-old Kim Clijsters 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a dramatic third-round U.S. Open match on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Williams comes back from a 3-5 third-set deficit and wins 16 of the last 17 points of the match. When asked if she felt like she was going to lose trailing 3-5 in the final set, Williams says “I never think — no matter if I’m down 6-0, 5-0, Love-40, I never think I’m going to lose until the match is over.”
SERENA’S BIGGEST LOSSES
2020 – Competing in an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Azarenka defeats Serena Williams 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, avenging her loss to Williams in three-set U.S. Open finals in 2012 and 2013.
2019 – Bianca Andreescu withstands a furious Serena Williams second-set comeback and a thunderous American crowd to become Canada’s first major singles champion with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Williams, who was attempting to win her 24th major singles title to tie the all-time record of Margaret Court. Andreescu leads Williams 6-3, 5-1 but fails to serve out the title twice as Williams fights to get back into the match with the support of some of the loudest encouragements ever heard in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I had some doubts because I’ve witnessed her come back from being 5-0 down, 5-1 down, 5-2 down,” says Andreescu. “I just told myself to stick with my tactics. She started playing much better. I think the crowd really helped her, as well. I was blocking out the noise, or trying to. I could barely hear myself think really. It was really, really loud. But I guess that’s what makes this tournament so special… but it definitely wasn’t easy, especially when she started coming back in the second set.”
2018 – Naomi Osaka wins a chaotic and drama-filled U.S. Open final, dominating Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 to win her first major singles title. Williams receives three code violations from chair umpire Carlos Ramos in the second set. The first came in the second game of the second set when Ramos felt she was receiving illegal coaching from the stands from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Williams insisting to Ramos that it was not the case and demanding an apology. Williams later smashes her racket in disgust after failing to consolidate a service break advantage at 3-1 in the second set, resulting a point penalty from Ramos. During the changeover with Osaka leading 4-2, she then calls Ramos “a thief” for taking a point from her which results in Ramos issuing another code violation and a game penalty, giving Osaka the 5-3 lead. The loss prevents Williams from equaling the all-time major singles victory record set by Margaret Court with 24.
2015 – In one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, Roberta Vinci, a 32-year-old ranked No.xx and playing in her first career major semifinal, ends the Serena Williams quest for the Grand Slam 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. “The best moment of my life,” says Vinci, who had not even won a set from Williams in their four previous matches. Says Williams in a terse post-match press conference, “I don’t want to talk about how disappointing it is for me. If you have any other questions, I’m open for that.”
2011 – Sam Stosur defeats Serena Williams 6-2, 6-3 to become the first Australian winner of a women’s singles major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980. The match is highlighted by a “hindrance” call on Williams by chair umpire Eva Asderaki in the first game of the second set, after Williams apparently saved a break point. Writes Karen Crouse with the New York Times, “Stosur had reeled off 12 consecutive points to secure the first set, so when Williams ripped a forehand to Stosur’s backhand for an apparent winner to stave off another break, she could not contain her glee. “Come on!” she screamed. But Stosur stuck out her racket and got a piece of the ball, and when she made contact, it brought into play the hindrance rule.” As the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd rained down with boos over the call, Williams won the first point after the hindrance call and again walks up to Asderaki, points her racket at her and said something that resulted her being given a code violation by Asderaki. “If you ever see me walking down the hall, look the other way,” Williams then says to Asderaki. “You’re out of control. You’re a hater and you’re unattractive inside.” Williams then says, “Code violation for this? I expressed who I am. We’re in America last time I checked.”
2009 – A point penalty on match point against Serena Williams gives Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the raucous ending in the U.S. Open semifinals. With Clijsters leading 6-5 in the second set, Williams is called for a foot-fault on her second serve while down 15-30. After complaining to chair umpire Louise Engzell, Williams then approaches and threaten the line-judge with a flurry of expletives. Because she already received a code violation warning or a smashed racket, Williams is then given a point penalty, which because the score was 15-40, double-match point for Clijsters, awards the match to Clijsters. Liz Robbins in the New York Times describes the happenings as “a shocking display of vitriol and profanity toward a line judge at the most inopportune time” writing “In a matter of confusing minutes, Williams turned what had been a scintillating women’s match into an ugly and improbable spectacle.”
2004 – In a match that is credited with ushering in the era of electronic line-calling in tennis, Jennifer Capriati defeats Serena Williams 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a quarterfinal U.S. Open match that is highlighted by four critical calls on points that go against Williams when television replays clearly show that Williams should have won. The most egregious error comes at deuce in the first game of the final set when chair umpire Mariana Alves overrules a clear backhand winner from Williams. Capriati breaks serve in the game and persists to victory. The U.S. Tennis Association and the WTA Tour both issue statements acknowledging that mistakes were made in line-calling and 18 months later, the USTA takes the lead in having electronic line-calling debut at the Miami Open in March of 2006. Says Williams of the match, despite the line-calling controversies, “I pretty much dug my own grave and got in, pretty much covered myself up with dirt.”
2007 – Saying her opponent “made a lot of lucky shots,” Serena Williams is defeated by Justine Henin 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. The match marked Henin’s third Grand Slam quarterfinal win over Williams in a Grand Slam in 2007, also beating the 2007 Australian Open champion in the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
2001 – In an historic evening for women’s tennis, Venus Williams wins her second U.S. Open singles title defeating younger sister Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the first-ever all-sister U.S. singles final in the first ever prime time major singles final. The 69-minute final marks only the second time in the history of tennis that two sisters compete in the final of the major singles final – the only other occasion coming 117 years earlier in the Wimbledon final in 1884, when Maud Watson beats her younger sister Lillian for the title. The Associated Press calls the match “a very public spanking…that was far more historic than dramatic.” Says Venus in the post-match trophy ceremony of the final, “There have been some good things and bad things. I always like to win. But I’m the big sister. I want to make sure she has everything, even if I don’t have
1998 – One year after a famous intentional chest-bump incident with Venus Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals, Irina Spirlea beats Serena Williams 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 in the third round of the U.S. Open. Both Williams, a U.S. Open debutant, and Spirlea say in their post-match press conference that the chest-bump incident between Spirlea and the Williams family was in the past. Says Williams, “People who dwell on the past and problems still remember that.” Says Spirlea, “Serena and I shook hands. We talk. I talk to her. They talk to me. It is normal. Would we go out to dinner? Don’t ask so much. I am too tired to go out to dinner. I’m going to have room service, so I am going to call her in my room and have room service?”
