Well in order to keep down the length of both posts to a reasonable size, and since these posts are purely about the US Open 2011 Ladies and Mens singles finals they both deserve their own entries, so here goes with the ladies first.
So the ladies final was setup between the former champion Serena Williams and the number 9 seed Sam Stosur. Naturally Serena went into this tournament and into the final as the hot favourite to win, and she herself had played some terrific tennis throughout the 2 weeks at Flushing Meadows to get to the final. However that all changed when she faced Sam Stosur, who was in the form of her life, and was firing on all cylinders, as she raced through the first set breaking Serena twice in the process and took the set in just under 30 minutes. In the second set, we expected a fightback from Serena who in the first game showed signs of form until she hit a winner in the middle of which she shouted "come on!!" before Stosur could get her racquet to it, which was a code violation. As a result the umpire Eva Esderaki awarded the point to Stosur which also gave her the game and the break, and then Serena went ballistic as she launched into a tirade against Eva saying such things as "don't even look at me, you are a hater and are unattractive inside!". Perhaps as a result of her angry outbursts, Serena's level didn't really improve, and Stosur broke her again at 3-4, and at 5-3, Sam secured her first grand slam title by hitting an incredible forehand winner down the right side of the court on Serena's serve, winning in 6-2, 6-3.
Although the match was short on length, it certainly didn't lack in drama, and in a way it was unfortunate that Serena's outburst threatened to overshadow Sam Stosur's terrific achievement. But Sam deserves nothing but credit for her win as she is a really nice girl, with a professional attitude, and she played outstanding tennis, hitting incredible forehands and all sorts of winners, and she hardly lost a point on her own serve, and she moved with tremendous speed and accuracy. In fact I am so glad that Serena didn't win as she didn't deserve to in my opinion with that outburst, and in general I'm not so keen on her attitude anyway. To be fair Serena was quite gracious to Sam afterwards and they shared a laugh and smile while they were having their picture taken. Anyway as a result Serena has gotten off lightly with a fine of $2000 for her tirade, which was an improvement on her ban back in 2009.
So that's another new grand slam champion, which has been one of the best things about this year in the ladies game, there is no dominant player, and it has left the woman's field wide open for someone to come in take a major. Serena Williams however was really surprising in that final, as she seemed sluggish right from the get go, which is strange considering the incredible tennis she played through the tournament. But Sam Stosur definitely has proved to herself to any critics how capable she is as a player, as she is already a grand slam doubles champion, and now she has proven it in the singles. The only trouble for Sam is like the other first time slam champions this year such as Li Na and Petra Kvitova, is can Sam maintain such a high level from now on??? So far Li Na and Petra have both seriously struggled with their careers ever since winning at the French Open and Wimbledon, in a few events they have went out in the first matches, and especially at the US Open they both went in the first round! So it could raise the same concern for Sam, will she fall foul to this trend as well? It remains to be seen, but I hope not, as it would be great to see a player rise above the pressure and expectations and deliver the goods so to speak.
But anyway that's another US Open ladies tournament over with for another year and what a 2 weeks it has been as there have been plenty of thrilling matches throughout.
And on that note, its now over to the men......
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