Heroes & Zeros: US Open Edition

Andy Murray wasn't the only hero of the 2012 U.S. Open. We give props to a handful of other great efforts in this week's Heroes and Zeros, while also calling out a few of the bigger disappointments.

By Chris Oddo

(September 11, 2012) -- Heroes and Zeros is Tennis Now's weekly look at the brightest stars of the game—and the biggest flops. This week we’ll take you on a journey back to the center of the U.S. Open.

Hero: Andy Murray

Nobody really knows what it was like to be Andy Murray for the last four years. The Scot had to deal with constant badgering (albeit good-natured) from the press about his shortcomings in Slam finals, and he was nothing but forthright during those media-driven therapy sessions. Now that he’s finally gotten the 12,000-kilo monkey off his back, we can all start to appreciate Murray for being a wonderfully talented chap, with a huge passion for tennis and an immensely diverse game. He’s a true genius on the tennis court, playing such imaginative tennis, with so much feeling, emotion, grit and guile. Thankfully now we can all start to know Murray for what he is rather than what he isn’t. He’s a Grand Slam champion, now let’s let him have a vacation for a while.

Zero: Caroline Wozniacki

Two first-round losses in Slams in a row raise a red flag for Wozniacki. Is she capable of improving or has the game passed her by?

Hero: Ivan Lendl

Smiles are overrated, and maybe Lendl's influence over Murray is to an extent, but the man that helped guide Murray to the promised land gets hero status from us.

Hero: Andy Roddick

He’ll be missed on the court, he’ll be missed in the press room, and more importantly he’ll be missed as the top American, where he guided the U.S. to its last Davis Cup and last Grand Slam title, and where his leadership and mentoring skills were of the utmost importance to young Americans.

Zero: John Isner

If ever there was a time that we needed to see something special from Isner to take away the sting of Roddick’s retirement this would have been it. No such luck as Isner went quietly into the night against Philipp Kohlschreiber in round three.

Hero: Serena Williams

Wow. Fifteen Grand Slams and counting for Serena. By winning her fourth career U.S. Open title in dramatic fashion on Sunday, Miss Williams made her case for being named WTA player of the year, and she also inched closer to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s grand total of eighteen Grand Slams. If the 30-year-old can keep this level up for a few more years, we may be talking about Steffi Graf’s total of 22 Grand Slams next. We can hope, can’t we?

Zero: Bernard Tomic

He was horrible in his second-round loss to Andy Roddick. He was even worse in his post-match presser when he got bratty with reporters who asked him why he was so horrible. In short, the 19-year-old has quite a lot of growing to do – both on the court and off.

Hero: Janko Tipsarevic

For this backhand...

Zero: Roger Federer

Federer gets a zero for his quarterfinal performance against Tomas Berdych. It was inexplicably bad (for Federer, and that is the standard he gets graded on), the worst possible way to end the Slam season for Federer. Lot’s to feel good about for the World No. 1 and Wimbledon champion, but this U.S. Open quarterfinal is certainly not one of those things.

Hero: The Bryan Brothers

The California kids broke the Open Era Grand Slam record for men’s doubles Grand Slam titles with 12. And Bob hit the most ridiculous tweener in the third round. Rumor has it that Bob's daughter Micaela dared him to do it.

Zero: Francesca Schiavone

The former Grand Slam champion has lost her way on the court. Pretty much everybody knew that she was a prime upset candidate when she drew promising American Sloane Stephens in the first round at the U.S. Open, and pretty much everybody was right. Schiavone lost in straight sets. She still plays brilliant points, games and the odd set every now and then, but something keeps her from playing a complete match. Will she ever get it together again?

Hero: Redfoo

Not sure about this guy’s glasses, or his music. But I dig the way he supports women’s tennis. I dig it so much that I’m going to reconsider the way I feel about his glasses and his music.

Zero: Wind

Tennis in the wind is just plain torture. Unless you're Andy Murray, that is...

Hero: Sara Errani

Errani became the first Italian women to make the U.S Open semis in the Open Era, then notched her second Grand Slam doubles title of the year with her good pal Roberta Vinci. And she did it all exuberantly, with feeling, and with gusto.

Zero: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Martin Klizan may be good, and he may even be great someday, but when you’re Jo-Wilfried Tsonga there simply is no excuse for a second-round loss in a Slam.

Hero: Pippa Middleton

For heading over to the blue-collar Armstrong Stadium and sitting amongst the paying customers to root on Andy Murray in his quarterfinal match against Marin Cilic. Sean Connery deserves some props to for unabashedly rooting on his boy in the final.

Hero: Novak Djokovic

For being part of what was a truly special U.S. Open men’s singles final, for making his 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, and for being a fantastic ambassador for tennis, win or lose. His sizzling energy during his comeback in the final was reminiscent of Connors—truly special stuff, even in defeat.

Zero: Arthur Ashe Stadium

Would it be too easy to pick on this colossal structure for not having a roof? Okay then, how about we pick on it for the fact that it is a wind tunnel. Was it originally built for catamaran sailing?

Hero: Ryan McIntosh

23-year-old Army Veteran Ryan McIntosh lost his leg from the knee down in Afghanistan, but he never lost his motivation, or his desire to lead by example. He joined the crew of 250 ballpeople at the U.S. Open and even worked the men’s semifinal between Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. When he’s not chasing balls around the U.S. Open courts, McIntosh counsels soldiers with disabilities at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. “I want them to realize that they can do anything that they want to do,” said of his fellow amputees.

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)