US Open Wrap Up & Grades

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

The final slam of the year has concluded and the monopoly of Fedalovic continues. Since the 2005 Aussie Open, they have won every single major, bar three. That is getting close to nine years of dominance from the big three. Murray has been the only one to consistently challenge them and even he has only collected two majors since bursting onto the scene in 2008. One must wonder who will take over when the inevitable happens. Raonic perhaps, the great Canadian hope. Or maybe Tomic can finally put it all together. Dimitrov, Harrison. Or, Nishikori. Perhaps Del Potro wins the French a couple of times after Nadal calls it quits whenever that may be. The Argentine has played well there and he could do so again.

This US Open featured upsets, surprise runs, Nadal's forehand and Gasquet's backhand. It featured a Swiss star, but not our usual Swiss star. Two hard court slam semifinalist debutantes and a Lleyton Hewitt revival of sorts. We saw an exodus of seeds in the first three rounds and of the top 10 seeds, only three did better than their seeding with only four even matching their seeds. Just ten of our thirty-two seeds hit the round they were seeded to reach. It has been a fairly forgettable US this year and I would have to rate Wimbledon as the best slam of the year once again, followed closely by the Aussie. Would it be impossible for a winner outside of the big three to take it next year? No. Del Potro can play well. Raonic can win a slam and will eventually. Maybe the Canuck will be seeded higher than 10 next year. It took something special from the French number two to stop him. Could Isner serve his way to the semi or will Berdie make a run.

But, I shall now talk about some players.

Nadal played like the champion he is and won his third hard court slam and his second US Open. He nullified Djokovic in the final as well as seeing off an inspired Gasquet. He played the perfect tournament from start to finish. He first dropped serve in the semifinals and was far too good in the later rounds. He also dropped only two sets and won his second US Open. He was pretty darn perfect... A+

Wawrinka played amazing tennis all week. He is probably this slam's MVP. He played lovely all court tennis and defeated the third and fifth seeds with the loss of only a set. He then gave a great performance against the Djoker... A+

Paes/Stepanek were incredible this tournament. They had to go three sets against Llod and Mahut, three against fifth seeds Qureshi/Rojer in the quarters and then came from a set down to defeat the Bryans. The Bryans had reached the last four men's doubles slam finals and won them all plus the Olympic gold. The fourth seeds then dispatched the second seeds 6-1, 6-3 to win... A+

Gasquet finally showed us what he can do by showing mental fortitude -- it shocked me, too -- by coming through tests against Tursunov, Raonic and Ferrer. Old Gasqy would have stumbled at any of those three obstacles. But not new Gasquet. He even gave Nadal a fight until he was two sets and a break down. Frankly, if I was two sets and a break down against Nadal I would have done what Gasquet did -- give up and start swinging... A+

Robredo beat Federer in the upset of the tournament. Not bad... A

Youzhny gets props fo doing something no one saw coming. He wasn't troubled by either Dolgopolov or Youzhny. He also beat Haas in four sets and then came back from 2-5 in the fifth against Hewitt to win, though Hewitt's nerves may have had something to do with that... A

Peya/Soares did well to get to the final. They dropped just two sets on their way to the final. They achieved their seeding and played some good tennis to get there, but unfortunately they were outclassed in the decider... A-

Djokovic was untested in his first four rounds but did struggle in the later rounds. If he was in top form, he would not have lost that set to Youzhny or go down two sets to one against the Swiss number two. He wasn't really going to lose before the final, but once there, a Nadal victory always looked the more likely and the Serb was rather quiet during the final set, too... A-

The Bryans came so close to holding the five biggest men's doubles accolades simultaneously, but were ultimately denied. That has got to hurt. Still, they have an Olympic Gold, which is pretty good. I would like an Olympic Gold... B

Ferrer and Murray both looked shaky and both did well to grind into the quarters. Unfortunately, once there they were unable to hold off the fancy one-handers. A slam quarterfinal is good, but both will have expected more... B-

Federer continued his slump. Not seeing Fed at his best is a sad sight... C+

Del Potro was every man and his mother's dark horse. It was written all over him. In fact, I almost expected him to make a final run here. Losing to Hewitt from two sets up is not a mistake someone like Delpo should be making, though...C-

Isner and the Americans were pretty disappointing. America is in a slump right now and they really need Harrison and Sock to come through. Isner cannot seem to put it together at slams even though he is masterful on US soil... C-

Thanks everyone, Davis Cup stuff coming soon. And clicky on WTA BACKSPIN.

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