By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday September 13, 2019
The Grand Slam season is over and, even though there’s plenty of tennis left to be played in 2019, mid-September always marks a perfect time to chronicle some of the magical moments we’ve witnessed at the year’s four majors. This year Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu helped us usher out a decade of Grand Slam tennis in style, with US Open titles for the ages, but there were so many other magical moments that shaped and colored the tennis season and left indelible memories for us to savor.
Before we look ahead to the Asian swing, the Laver Cup, indoor tennis and the season-ending championships let’s have a look back at some of the most magical moments.
It Started with Naomi Osaka: The mixed emotions that will be forever associated with Naomi Osaka’s first major title were erased—at least temporarily—by a pure and riveting fortnight of tennis in Australia from the Japanese megastar. Osaka won her second consecutive major at the Aussie Open, becoming the first player to win her first two major titles in succession since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. Osaka also became the first Asian to ever reach the No.1 ranking on the Monday after the tournament.
Australia seems like a long time ago, but let’s keep things in perspective here—it was a mere nine months ago that Osaka basically booked her spot in the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a 21-year-old. The turbulence that has followed—two coaching changes, trouble on the natural surfaces, injuries, shouldn't have too much impact on how we rate Osaka’s accomplishments at the majors in 2019. Osaka got the job done in Australia, and her historical run should not be overshadowed by what happened at the year's final three majors.
Dominic Thiem, closer at Roland Garros : Dominic Thiem went 1-3 in non-clay majors, and that’s not great. But when we look at the Austrian’s performance on the terre battue in Paris we can quickly recognize that he has taken a step in the right direction at the tournament that many feel he has been born to win. Even in a season that was stifled by a slow start, illness, and general inconsistency, Thiem proved that he has a knack for winning on clay and, more important, winning at Roland Garros. He may not take that next step next season in Paris, but with his run to the final and victory over World No.1 Novak Djokovic, Thiem has done the necessary work to make it a logical progression.
Novak Djokovic, two Slams and a page in Wimbledon’s history book: Roger Federer, serving from the shady side of Wimbledon's fabled Centre Court, at 8-7, 40-15 in fifth set of the gentlemen’s singles final; Novak Djokovic, ever stoic, ready to return. This is the prevailing image of the ATP's 2019 tennis season—the one that will stick with us forever—and in the two points that followed, the Serb managed to write another chapter in the book that features him as tennis’ king of clutch, the hero who wouldn’t blink as he stared down disaster and responded triumphantly to claim his fifth Wimbledon and 16th major title. Djokovic became the first player to save championship points in a winning Wimbledon final in 71 years, and he served his rival Federer a crushing defeat at the same time, tipping the GOAT race, at least temporarily, in his favor.
Serena’s struggles in major finals: Full credit to Serena Williams for pushing through to another two major finals in 2019. The 23-time major champion and de facto GOAT was primed to tie Margaret Court on the all-time major singles title list (does it really matter, or are we fixating on this for all the wrong reasons--questions for another day), but she came up short in two lopsided finals, and has now dropped four consecutive Grand Slam finals without winning a single set.
The odds seem stacked against Williams, who will turn 38 later this month, now. But the greatest of the great always find a way and that is why we are so eagerly looking forward to seeing how Williams reacts to the setbacks she has suffered since she returned from maternity leave in the spring of 2018.
Andreescu, the most incredible story of 2019: Hands-down and no doubt about it—Bianca Andreescu’s 2019 is the most remarkable tennis story of 2019. The Canadian was not on anybody’s radar as the season started and she didn’t just burst onto the scene, she slammed into the sun and exploded it, then zoomed through the solar system, a winner-smashing vapor trail picking up Top 10 wins like they were meteorites.
Andreescu capped off the Grand Slam season by becoming the first player in Open Era history to win the US Open on her main draw debut. Unprecedented and unbelievable. Think about that—it had never been done before and had barely ever been approached. And that's not even the half of what the 19-year-old has been able to achieve in 2019. She won Indian Wells, becoming the youngest player to do so in 20 years, and won the Rogers Cup, becoming the first Canadian to achieve the feat since 1969. She survived a serious shoulder injury, and raised her ranking from outside the Top 150 to No.5 in the world in less than nine months.
If that isn't remarkable we do not know what is.
The Big Three keep winning: Three straight years of Big Three domination at the Slams and no signs of slowing down. After Rafael Nadal’s US Open triumph, tennis’ iconic trio of Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have now won 51 of the last 59 major titles dating back to Nadal’s first Roland Garros title in 2005.
That’s just ridiculous. And ridiculously good.
Teenagers rising: Bianca Andreescu became the first teenager to win a major title since 2006 when she claimed the US Open title, but her success was most certainly inspired by the runs of Marketa Vondrousova, Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros.
Three teenagers reached the second week for the first time at a major in a decade in Paris this spring, and Anisimova became the first player born in the 2000s to reach a major semifinal later in that same week. Eventually, Vondrousova would fall in her bid to become the first teenager to win a major in 13 years, but Andreescu came through and got it done in New York.
Vondrousova is 20 now, but Anisimova, Swiatek and Andreescu still have more time to pad their teenaged stats next year.
Ash Barty, clay surprise: The first Aussie to win Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973? That would be Ash Barty who capped off an amazing run to the title in Paris and later sealed her spot at No.1. It was an unexpected run for Barty—she entered Roland Garros with a 2-5 lifetime record in Paris.
NextGenATP champ at Australia… a winning tradition: For the second consecutive year, the winner of the ATP’s NextGen Finals went on a run for the ages at the Australian Open. In 2018 it was Hyeon Chung reaching the semifinals and becoming the first player from South Korea to reach a major semifinal; in 2019 it was Stefanos Tsitsipas who upset Roger Federer in the quarterfinals to reach his first major final.
Coco-Mania: 15-year-old Coco Gauff made the most of her qualifying wild card at this year’s Championships. She became the youngest player to ever qualify for Wimbledon and then went on a dream run to the second week to become the youngest player to reach the round of 16 at SW19 since 1991. Gauff's first-round victory over Venus Williams was particularly epic. The atmoshphere was heavy on Wimbledon’s No.1 court as Gauff and Williams battled through three sets. And the stunning similarities between the two players was uncanny. It felt like a changing of the guard, and it may yet prove to be.
Two months later Gauff would again capture the imagination of tennis fans world-wide as she became the youngest player to reach the third round at the US Open since 1996.
Medvedev Displays Major Promise: Tennis has been looking for a proper player to sweep in and step up to the Big Three challenge, and Daniil Medvedev introduced himself at the US Open as the man who could lead the charge. The hottest player on the ATP Tour before the Open began, Medvedev told reporters he just wanted to try to get to his first major quarterfinal in New York—that would be enough. Well, the rising Russian did that and more. And he did it with panache, first railing against the New York faithful with a stunning display of edgy tennis before he finally won the fans over by pushing Rafael Nadal to five sets in an epic US Open final.
We’ve talked a lot about young stars in men’s tennis over the last two seasons, but none of them have stepped up to the plate and delivered what Medvedev did in New York. Down two sets and a break against Nadal in the final he refused to quit and nearly pulled off what would have been the most stunning comebacks of the last decade in men’s tennis.
We can’t wait to see what he does for an encore in 2019.
Doubles with a Colombian Twist: Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah hit their stride in the second half of 2019 and never looked back as they won Wimbledon to become the first Colombian duo to ever win a Grand Slam title and then backed it up in New York with a decisive run to a second major title. It has been a long journey for Cabal and Farah and it was thrilling to watch them pull it all together for themselves and their tennis-crazy nation at the Slams this summer.
Dr. Ivo, still going strong: Three cheers for Ivo Karlovic, who became the oldest man to win a match at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall in 1975.
Nadal Wins 12th Roland Garros title: When the dust settles from this incredible era in men’s tennis, the one thing that we’ll look back on in disbelief more than any other is Nadal’s Roland Garros domination. There has never been anything like it before; there will never be anything like it again. The Spaniard embraces the clay, and the only Grand Slam played on clay, with every ounce of his being and each year he reminds us of the utter unassailability of his fortress there.
Nobody else has ever dominated tennis in this fashion.
Halep’s Wimbledon: So this is how Simona Halep chills? By setting a Wimbledon record for spotless tennis in a final?
Guess so.
Simona Halep, who has been adamant about the fact that she is just going to chill in 2019 and not let expectations of success dog her, found her groove at the All England club this summer and powered through her last two rounds, losing just four games in each. It was the final, and the way she dominated Serena Williams, that will forever be etched upon our memory. Halep was relentless and as close to perfect as a player can be, making just two unforced errors as she thrashed the Queen of Wimbledon’s grass in a 56-minute final.
Classic match: Tsitsipas v Wawrinka, round of 16 Roland Garros: In an improbably good contest between generational foes, Stan Wawrinka outlasted Stefanos Tsitsipas on Court Suzanne Lenglen in five hours and nine minutes in one of the more colorful and potent battles that we’ve seen in a long time. This round of 16 tilt may not have had the implications of the Djokovic-Federer Wimbledon final or the Nadal-Medvedev US Open final, but it very well could go down as the best men’s singles Grand Slam match of 2019.
Classic match: Osaka d. Kvitova at Roland Garros: This wasn’t just a battle for No.1. No, the Australian Open final between Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova was a nail biter til the finish. Osaka failed to convert on three championship points late in the second set and had to endure a tear-stained bathroom break between sets before summoning everything she had to will herself past Kvitova in a gripping third set.
Federer back in Paris: The way that Roger Federer rolled into the Roland Garros semi-finals, looking spry and sporty, had to be one of the most eye-opening apparitions of the clay-court season. For Federer to return to the clay, after a few years away from the surface, and to perform so well was truly a boon for Roland Garros—and tennis—in 2019. The Swiss maestro even acquitted himself nicely against Nadal in brutal conditions in the semis. It was one of the windiest days that Roland Garros has ever seen, but Federer held his own against Nadal and it was perhaps his high level in Paris that helped Federer get a massive semifinal win over Nadal a few weeks later at Wimbledon.
Djokovic’s sheer dominance at Australia: If it is dominance you crave then it was the way that Novak Djokovic put the finishing touches on his seventh Australian Open title that you enjoyed the most in 2019. The Serb dropped just eight games in a lopsided thrashing of Rafael Nadal in the final and became the first man in history to win seven Australian Open titles.
“Things started so quick,” Nadal said afterwards. “He was pushing me to every ball. He played so well. He hit so long. His return was fantastic. He was super quick.”
The Grand Slam season didn’t end on Djokovic’s terms, as he was forced to retire from the US Open in the fourth round, but when viewed as a whole, it was another brilliant, legacy-building Slam season for Djokovic.