The 2008 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 127th edition of the US Open, and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City, New York, United States, from August 25 through September 8, 2008.
The men's defending champion, Roger Federer, won the US Open for a fifth consecutive time. Justine Henin, the women's defending champion, did not return to defend her title due to her retirement from tennis, for personal reasons, earlier in the year. Serena Williams was the champion on the women's side, winning her third US Open title; she had last won the event in 2002. Federer and Williams's opponents, Andy Murray and Jelena Janković, were making their débuts in Grand Slam finals. World number ones Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanović went out in the semifinal and second round, respectively. This was Nadal's best ever result at the US Open; for Ivanovic, it was her second early exit at a Grand Slam since her win at the 2008 French Open.
The home nation had success; Serena Williams was the first American to win a singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003. Twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won their second US Open title, and Liezel Huber (who became an American citizen in 2007) won the women's doubles with Zimbabwean Cara Black.
Preparations
The International Tennis Federation and United States Tennis Association offered audiences a number of new ways to access the Open in 2008. A YouTube channel was set up to broadcast highlights, and the official US Open website featured hourly updates of what was happening at the tournament. Multiple matches could be accessed at any one time, on handheld video devices courtesy of American Express. In celebration of the 40th anniversary since the US National Championships became "open" to professionals, a special opening ceremony was held, showcasing all the singles champions of the previous 40 years, with over two dozen of them in attendance. The ceremony was hosted by actor Forest Whitaker and included musical performances from funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. In addition to this, fans were shown nightly video tributes, and a commemorative book was published. On August 23, the annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day was held; Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Novak Djoković, Ana Ivanović, and Serena Williams led the player participation. Musical acts including the Jonas Brothers and Sean Kingston performed on this day as well.
Men's and women's singles players
- Women's Singles
Day by day
Day by day summaries of the men's and women's singles events, with men's, women's, and mixed doubles exits also listed. Both the men's and women's singles draw are composed of 128 players, with 32 of these players seeded.
Day 1
Seeds progressing on the first day of play included David Ferrer, Andy Murray, David Nalbandian, Stanislas Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Gaël Monfils. Recent Olympic gold medalist, and new World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who acknowledged that he was suffering from fatigue post-match, advanced after being tested by qualifier Björn Phau; and Juan Martín del Potro, who entered the Open on a run of nineteen consecutive wins, and who, over the course of this run, had become the first player in ATP history to win his first four titles in as many tournaments, beat fellow Argentine Guillermo Cañas. Together Nadal and del Potro had completed the longest winning streaks on the tour in 2008, with Nadal's run having extended to 32 matches. Americans James Blake (seeded ninth) and Donald Young treated the home crowd to a match spanning five sets, in one of the scheduled night matches, with Blake emerging as the victor. Juan Mónaco and Feliciano López were the only seeds who failed to progress.
In the women's competition, Jelena Janković, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Patty Schnyder, Caroline Wozniacki, Francesca Schiavone, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Katarina Srebotnik, and Sybille Bammer all made safe passage in to the second round. Nadal's Olympic counterpart, Elena Dementieva, made hard work of her win against Akgul Amanmuradova, and former champion Lindsay Davenport, playing the US Open for the first time since her return to the sport from a break due to motherhood, beat recent Bank of the West Classic winner Aleksandra Wozniak in a comfortable two sets. Seeded losers included 2007 semifinalist Anna Chakvetadze, who lost to Ekaterina Makarova, making this her worst Slam finish in three years; Maria Kirilenko, who lost to Tamira Paszek; and Shahar Peer, who lost to Na Li 2–6, 6–0, 6–1.
- Seeded players out: Juan Mónaco, Feliciano López; Shahar Peer, Anna Chakvetadze, Maria Kirilenko
Day 2
Day 2 saw the first round matches from the bottom half of the draw begin; Fernando González, Fernando Verdasco, Ivo Karlović, Tommy Robredo, Igor Andreev, and Paul-Henri Mathieu all progressed. Defending champion and number two seed Roger Federer, playing his first Grand Slam since the 2004 Australian Open at a seeding lower than number one, beat Máximo González 6–3, 6–0, 6–3, and Andreas Seppi, the thirty-first seed, triumphed in five sets (6–3, 7–5, 3–6, 3–6, 6–3) over Hyung-taik Lee. Four seeds exited the tournament: Richard Gasquet, who lost in five sets to former world number two Tommy Haas; Tomáš Berdych, who lost to home favorite Sam Querrey in a humbling 6–3, 6–1, 6–2 scoreline; Canada Masters runner-up Nicolas Kiefer, who retired at two sets to one and 4–1 down in his match against Ivo Minář; and Mikhail Youzhny, who withdrew due to a viral illness.
World No. 1 and top seed Ana Ivanović, who had recently returned from injury, began her campaign with a hard fought win over Vera Dushevina, coming through 6–1, 4–6, 6–4. The Williams sisters Venus and Serena, both former champions, advanced with relative ease, as did in-form player and US Open Series winner Dinara Safina. Agnieszka Radwańska, Ágnes Szávay, Flavia Pennetta, Alizé Cornet, Nadia Petrova, Nicole Vaidišová, Alona Bondarenko, Dominika Cibulková, and former world number one Amélie Mauresmo all scored victories to enter the second round. However, eleventh seed Daniela Hantuchová suffered a heavy defeat to qualifier Anna-Lena Grönefeld, and thirty-first seed Virginie Razzano was also beaten.
- Seeded players out: Mikhail Youzhny (withdrawal) , Tomáš Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Nicolas Kiefer; Daniela Hantuchová, Virginie Razzano
- Seeded players out: Paul Hanley / Jordan Kerr
Day 3
On Day 3, the remaining men's first round matches were completed. Third-seeded Novak Djoković, who had won the Australian Open earlier in the year, won in straight sets against Arnaud Clément, but was hampered by an ankle injury, for which he received courtside treatment. Andy Roddick produced a sterling performance to defeat Fabrice Santoro 6–2, 6–2, 6–2, and Nikolay Davydenko, who entered the tournament on a poor run of form was, by his own admission, surprisingly efficient in dispatching Dudi Sela 6–3, 6–3, 6–3. Nicolás Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Radek Štěpánek, and Marin Čilić won their matches to claim places in the second round, meaning that no seeds were knocked out on Day 3.
In the women's second round matches, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Lindsay Davenport, Katarina Srebotnik, and Sybille Bammer all recorded routine victories to reach the third round. Two players who faced greater resistance from their opponents were Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Jankovic, playing against Sofia Arvidsson, had match points in the second set, and eventually came through 6–3, 6–7(5), 6–4. The match, which lasted two hours and forty-four minutes, left Jankovic unable to complete her warmdown. Kuznetsova meanwhile, had to come back from being 4–2 down to Sorana Cîrstea in the first set, before winning in two. Fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva, a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games, lost to Tatiana Perebiynis; Francesca Schiavone lost to Anne Keothavong, making Keothavong the first British woman to reach the third round of the US Open since Jo Durie's run at the 1991 Open; and Anabel Medina Garrigues lost to recent Wimbledon semifinalist Jie Zheng.
- Seeded players out: Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, Anabel Medina Garrigues
- Seeded players out: Jeff Coetzee / Rogier Wassen, Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Marcin Matkowski; Eva Hrdinová / Vladimíra Uhlířová, Květa Peschke / Rennae Stubbs, Maria Kirilenko / Flavia Pennetta, Yung-jan Chan / Chia-jung Chuang, Nath
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