5 Biggest Upsets in US Open History

The US Open is undoubtedly one of the most coveted and prestigious tennis championships. The oldest tennis championship has a rich history of 143 years. A lot of greats of the game have showcased their brilliance and excellence on the court in the US Open throughout the years since the championship’s inception 143 years back in the year 1881.

The upcoming edition this year or US Open 2024 will be the 144th edition of this high-profile Grand Slam in a calendar year. The history of the US Open is also filled with some shocking upsets out of all expectations of the fans or the experts of the game.

Here are the top 5 biggest upsets in the US Open in the last couple of decades:

5. Emma Raducanu vs Leylah Fernandez – Women’s Singles Final, US Open 2021

Only the second Grand Slam appearance, the then 18-year-old Emma Raducanu made it to the final of the US Open 2021, where she met Leylah Fernandez for the clash of the title. She was coming in a full flow with the wins in the knockouts, be it beating Belinda Bencic by 6-3, 6-4 or outplaying Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals by 6-1, 6-4 in straight sets.

No one would’ve expected Emma’s win in the final as she was set to take on Leylah but the young Emma defied all the odds and ended up winning the final by a margin of 6-4, 6-3 in the straights. She also became the first-ever qualifier in the Open era to clinch the title in a Grand Slam championship.

4. Serena Williams vs Kim Clijsters – Women’s Singles Semi-Final, US Open 2009

15 years back in 2009, it was an edition of shocks in the US Open history; one of those shocks came for fans and experts in the semi-final of the championship between the then reigning champion Serena Williams against the wildcard entrant Kim Clijsters. Before this appearance, she had already clinched the US Open title three times.

But things went completely differently for Serena Williams in this semi-final clash against Kim Clijsters; the latter defeated the then-defending champion Serena by a margin of 6-4, 7-5 in the straights. With this defeat, the winning run for that year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.

3. Roger Federer vs Juan Martin Del Potro – Men’s Singles Final, US Open 2009

Another big shock and surprise in the US Open 2009 came in the final of the men’s singles final between the then 5-time champion Roger Federer again the then 20-year-old young Juan Martin Del Potro. The experts and fans had highly predicted an easy win for Federer against the less experienced and young Del Potro as the former was coming off with outclassing stars like Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

But something else was waiting to happen on the court in the US Open 2009 final and the tables turned in favour of the young star Del Potro. The thrilling five-set match ended up giving the US Open a new champion that year as Del Potro defeated the number 1 Federer by 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, and 6-2 to end the latter’s winning run in the US Open.

2. Ana Ivanovic vs Julie Coin – Women’s Singles Second Round, US Open 2008

In the earlier phase of 2008, Ana Ivanovic had won the French Open and ended up as the runner-up in the Australian Open but things didn’t go in her favour by the end of the year and she had to bid adieu to the year on a low note.

She faced the biggest upset only in the second round of the tournament, where she met 188th seed Julie Coin; the latter was not highly predicted by the experts to win this match but she came up against all the odds and outplayed that year’s Australian Open and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic by a margin of 6-3, 4-6, and 6-3 in the three-set game to eliminate the latter from the group stage of the championship.

1. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Ekaterina Bychkova – Women’s Singles First Round, US Open 2005

Svetlana Kuznetsova entered the US Open 2005 with the tag of ‘defending champion’ as she outplayed the likes of Nadia Petrova, Lindsay Davenport and Elena Dementieva in the previous year’s edition of the US Open in 2004 to clinch her maiden US Open title in the professional tennis career.

But the stars took a 180-degree turn for Kuznetsova within a year and she faced a shocking upset only in the first round of the US Open 2005. She took on Ekaterina Bychkova and the latter defeated the Russian in her campaign opener. With this defeat, she also happened to be the first holder since the US Open 1968 to get eliminated in the first round of the successive edition.