Serena Williams wins US Open singles title

Carlos Alcaraz defeats Casper Ruud to win the US Open final

US Open: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Casper Ruud to win the US Open final

The 2018 US Open was one of the biggest tennis events of the year, and saw the first final in 14 years, and the first since Andre Agassi defeated Roger Federer in 1999. All four of the men’s main draws – Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – were at the tournament this year, and in all, 14 men reached the final.

The three-time champion Serena Williams took her time to get here: she arrived just in time for the first round on the Monday of the week-long tournament. Then, like many a tennis player before her, she was confronted with the challenge of coping with fatigue.

It was that challenge that got her to the final on Saturday, where she beat the fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic to win her first US Open title. By beating world No. 7 Petra Kvitova, she became only the second woman after Steffi Graf to lift the singles purse money at a US Open singles final. Now she moves on to complete another feat at Wimbledon, as she will face the best of the rest of the field at Centre Court in June.

Andy Murray’s US Open final was even more arduous, beginning with a routine win over his first-round opponent, Stan Wawrinka. But then, facing seven other men in the second round, two ranked over his own world ranking, Murray lost to Fernando Verdasco. The fourth seed was the ninth player to lose a first-round match at the US Open this year, a tournament where Murray has been to the finals only four times. He lost in 2013, 2014 and 2015, his last two titles coming in last year’s championships.

The Spaniard then took the set in the third, and held on to win the second – the first time he had opened the US Open as a men’s champion. The eighth seed then reached the fourth round – his highest placing since 2013 Wimbledon – against fifth seed Joao Sousa. His run ended with a straight-sets loss to the man who would take his first career title – Milos Raonic, who defeated the sixth

Leave a Comment