The 2011 US Open will crown a season of exciting grand slam tennis that has already produced several epic matches, and the coming-of-age of a new generation of tennis superstars. Located in New York, United States, the US Open is the fourth and last Grand Slam of the year. The first U.S. National Singles Championship for men was held at the Newport Casino, Newport, R.I., in August 1881. Only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association were permitted to enter. That was the beginning of a 34-year reign for Newport as the tennis center of the country.

Located in New York, United States, the US Open is the fourth and last Grand Slam of the year. The first U.S. National Singles Championship for men was held at the Newport Casino, Newport, R.I., in August 1881. Only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association were permitted to enter. That was the beginning of a 34-year reign for Newport as the tennis center of the country.

The early History of the US Open Tennis tournament indicates that the matches were played on the grass courts.Then in 1975 ForestHillsmoved the tournament to Har-Tru clay court and since 1978 it has moved to its current destination, The USTA National Tennis Center,Flushing Meadows Park. The DecoTurf surface at the US Open is a fast surface, having slightly less friction and producing a lower bounce compared to other hard courts (most notably the Rebound Ace surface of the Australian Open).

The main court is called Arthur Ashe Stadium with 24,000 seat capacity. It is named after Arthur Ashe the first African American tennis player who won the men’s final of the US Open in 1968 when the US Tennis tournament became Open. An incredible feat for a man who, due to segregation in America, was excluded from playing at any of his local tennis clubs and camps. Prior to Arthur, Althea Gibson was the first Black player ever to win the US Open title in 1957.

The second stadium is Louis Armstrong Stadium. This was the main stadium until the Ashe stadium came up. All the courts which are used by the US Open are well lit so that the TV coverage can be given. The US Open is different from the other 3 Grand Slam tournaments in that there are final set tiebreaks. In the other three majors, the fifth set for the men and the third set for the women continues until someone wins by two games.

The tournament will start on August 27 and the final day will be held on September 9. The total prize money for all events in 2011 is close to $19,653,000 an increase of 10% from 2007 who has seen an attendance of nearly 640,000 people and players from over 60 Nations competing in the prestigious event.

(Left) Martina Navratilova, with 16 titles at the US Open.

Facts of the US Open

• Men's record holders for most win:
• All competitions: Bill Tilden (USA), 16 titles
• Singles: Bill Tilden, Bill Larned, and Richard Sears (USA) 7 titles
• Consecutive singles titles: Richard Sears (USA), 7 titles
• Doubles: Richard Sears and James Dwight (USA), 7 titles
• Ladies' record holders for most wins since 1925:
• All competitions: Margaret Osborne DuPont (USA) 25 titles
• Singles: Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (USA), 8 titles
• Consecutive singles titles: Molla Mallory and Chris Evert (USA), 4 titles
• Doubles: Margaret Osborne DuPont (USA), 13 titles
• Youngest Singles champions:
• Men: Pete Sampras (USA) in 1990, 19 yrs, 0 mos.
• Women: Tracy Austin (USA) in 1979, 16 yrs, 8 mos.
• Oldest Singles champions:
• Men: Bill Larned (USA) in 1911, 38 yrs, 8 mos.
• Women: Molla Mallory (USA) in 1986, 37 yrs, 7 mos.
• Defending champions:
• Men: Juan Del Potro (ARG)
• Women: Kim Clijsters (BEL)
• Last American Singles champions:
• Men: Andy Roddick (USA), 2003
• Women: Serena Williams (USA), 2002

The 2011 US Open Preview
By John Gilman

The 2011 US Open field is as wide open as it has ever been in recent times, as the clear cut favorites on both the men’s and women’s sides of the draw all seem to have a few questions surrounding them, and several newcomers have shown their hard court prowess in the summer tournaments of the US Open Series leading up to the year’s last Major. On the men’s side, world number one
Novak Djokovic continues to carry one of the gaudiest won-lost records of recent times, with his sole loss of the year having come at the hands of Roger Federer at the French Open. It took a vintage performance by Federer to hand Djokovic his first loss of the season, and Novak was quickly back on track, as he snatched his second Major title of the year at Wimbledon a few weeks later. But, if Djokovic’s performance at the Roger’s Cup in Montréal is any indication of the state of his game coming into the Open, then he may be feeling the weight of his nearly flawless season a bit this summer, as he did not look anywhere near as sharp winning the title at the Canadian Open as he had earlier in the year- with the exception of his stunning performance against world number eight Gael Monfils in the semifinals. On the women’s side of the draw, world number one Caroline Wozniacki took an unaccustomed month-long break after Wimbledon and returned oat the Roger’s Cup in Toronto looking physically fresh and sporting some much improved attacking elements to her game, but also showing the rust of not being match tight and ended up losing early in the tournament to Italian Roberta Vinci in two tightly contested sets. It remains to be seen if Wozniacki can regain her match form in time for the Open.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters also comes into the year’s last Major with a lot more questions than answers about the state of her game and her recovery from injury, as she had to withdraw with abdominal muscle issues in Toronto- her first tournament back after an ankle injury that has kept her sidelined for several months. At this point in time, perhaps two-time winner on the US Open Series, Serena Williams, has to be tabbed as the prohibitive favorite for the women’s trophy at the Open this year, as she has looked very focused and fit in her two tournament wins thus far at Stanford and Toronto. Her game is still showing a bit of rust, after nearly a year’s layoff from injury and other health issues, but as she has shown during the summer hard court season, she does not have to be at one hundred percent in terms of match readiness to take out her opponents, as her experience and the intangibles that come with being one of the great champions of all time cannot be discounted in big matches.

Defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal has not had a great 2011 season- despite his customary dominance of the early spring clay court season in Europe that culminated with his sixth French Open title at Roland Garros in May. While he has had flashes of brilliance throughout the year, he has not played at the same consistently high level as we have seen him in the last few years. Djokovic was able to beat him on the red clay in both Madrid and Rome on the way into Roland Garros- both tightly contested matches- and one wonders what might have happened if Roger Federer had not stepped in and beaten Djokovic in Paris. Add to Nadal’s slight bit of inconsistency this year his struggles head to head with Djokovic, who has beaten him in five straight finals in 2011, and it is an open question if he will be able to defend his title this year in New York if the two should meet. At the present time, it does indeed look as if Rafa does not have the answers when he is looking at Novak across the net and he will need to come up with a strategy that will slow down the Djokovic train in 2011, if they end up contesting the final at the US Open this year. Roger Federer comes into the US Open in 2011 in the uncustomary position of not holding any of the three previous grand slam titles this year, and he will certainly be intent on trying to capture his sixth US Open title this year.

He has shown flashes of absolute brilliance this season, but also has lost matches in 2011 where he has seemed to have wandered away from a winning strategy that had him up early in a contest and which he has ultimately lost. Can he sustain the brilliance of play required for the entire two weeks of the US Open and capture his sixth Open title and his seventeenth major? Andy Murray comes into the US Open having had a very, very successful 2011 campaign- finals at the Australian Open and semis at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon- but he arrives in Flushing completely under the radar this year. He served for the match against then-undefeated Novak Djokovic at this year’s Italian Open and has played the new world number one as tough as anyone this year. Perhaps travelling outside the spotlight is just what he likes coming into a Major and with the most of the attention on Novak Djokovic’s nearly flawless season, Rafael Nadal’s attempt to defend his Open title and Roger Federer’s quest for a seventeenth major stealing most of the headlines, Murray may be perfectly poised to snatch his first Grand Slam title this year in New York. But, he will have to be able to play his most aggressive te nnis against the top players in the big moments to capture his first major, and he has not shown a willingness to do this consistently in the last couple of years.

For the women’s title in Flushing Meadow, it is hard to look beyond Serena Williams and not conclude that Serena holds her fate in her own hands at this year’s Open. While the top rankings continued to be held by Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, it is hard to picture any of these ladies being able to take out an in-form Serena Williams at the US Open. Defending champion Clijsters has had some success against Serena in the past, but her own questions stemming from multiple injuries and lack of match play would have to make Serena a very strong favorite if they should meet in New York this year. In fact, amongst the top ten women, only Maria Sharapova seems to have the fire power on the court to match Serena head to head, but Maria’s on-again, off-again serve could prove particularly difficult in any matchup with Serena Williams. Frenchwoman and world number nine Marion Bartoli was able to take out Serena at Wimbledon this year, but Serena’s game looks a quantum leap up in quality coming into the Open than it did in London and it is hard to imagine a repeat if these two should meet in New York. Wimbledon champion Petra Kivitova certainly has the big game and nasty lefty serve to make a run deep at Flushing Meadow, but the more grueling aspects of hard court tennis over the two weeks of the Open seem likely to take a toll on her conditioning in the second week. Venus Williams is the biggest enigma coming into the Open on the ladies’ side, as injuries and illness have kept her off the court for so much of this year that it is hard to know what to expect when she finally arrives in Flushing. Given the meticulous nature of her game, it seems unlikely that Venus can play her way into match shape in the first week and make a run in the second week at the Open, as there are just too many up and coming players that she is likely to run into in the early rounds that will be able to take advantage of her lack of match play this year.

For dark horses at the Open this year, the women’s tournament will possess three outstanding young players from Germany that could make some noise in 2011 in New York and bring back those heady days of Steffi and Boris. Andrea Petkovic comes in ranked number eleven in the world and seems to play her best tennis against the biggest hitters in the woman’s game. Her biggest potential pitfall could be losing early to one of the softer hitters ranked lower that seem to sometimes give her a bit of trouble. Not far behind her are Julia Goerges, ranked number twenty and Sabine Lisicki, ranked number twenty-two, both of whom possess excellent all court games and two of the biggest serves in woman’s tennis outside of the Williams sisters and Samantha Stosur. Any of these three rising stars from Germany could catch fire in New York and make a very deep run in this year’s tournament. Last year’s finalist, Vera Zvonareva has had another solid year in 2011, but her game does not look quite as tight as it did a year ago, and it is hard not to imagine Maria Sharapova carrying the Russian flag the deepest into this year’s second week of the tournament. It is hard to call world number one Caroline Wozniacki a dark horse coming into the Open, but it is hard to imagine her lifting the trophy on the second Saturday evening unless someone else along the way takes out Serena Williams. If this should happen and Caroline can regain her sharpness in match play after her month-long break, she could well take home her first major in New York this year- particularly if she continues to show some of the prowess at the net that she flashed on occasion in Toronto.

Men’s tennis has never been richer and deeper than it is today, and there are literally twenty men that could get hot and end up with the title at the Open this year. But most of these players will need to see a few upsets along the way, as it is hard to imagine anyone being able to run a gauntlet that includes beating two of the likes of Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the backend of the tournament. Americans Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick are both very legitimate contenders for the crown in Flushing- if Roddick is fully recovered from his recent injuries- but both will need a little help from others in the draw to make the finals. Fish has been the most consistently excellent player during the summer’s US Open Series and it is hard not to imagine that his run of fine form is here to stay. 2009 champion Juan-Martin del Potro has looked strong on his return from a year’s worth of injuries that completely derailed his 2010 season, and while his game is not quite yet back to the same level it was at the end of 2009, he is getting very close and has a legitimate chance of hosting the trophy in 2011. World number six David Ferrer is coming back from an injured wrist that caused him to miss most of the summer hard court season, and it will be interesting to see how recovered he is by the time of the Open. If he is back healthy, then he can make a deep run this year and cannot be counted out of the running to lift the trophy on that final Sunday. He has shown in his recent Davis Cup experience in Austin against the Americans that he is a very gifted player on any surface and this Spaniard is one of the toughest competitors in the men’s game today. World number five Robin Soderling has never done as well as he should have at Flushing, but perhaps 2011 will be the year where he finally makes his two week stay in New York the stuff of memories. He certainly has the game to give anyone on the men’s side a tough challenge if he is in form and the courts here are perfectly suited to his big game.

Both Spain and France have a plethora of top male players that could make a deep run at the US Open this year as well, with France now boasting four players in the top thirteen rankings in the men’s game. Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet all have the all-court games and artistic flair to capture the New York crowds and ride the wave of momentum all the way to the finals. All four Frenchmen have had issues with injury or suspension over the last few years, but the new “Four Musketeers” are fit and playing brilliantly as they come into the year’s last Major. Look for at least one of these four to make it late into the second week. On the Spanish side, beyond the aforementioned David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal, there are several other very talented players that could pull off some upsets at this year’s Open. Fernando Verdasco has not had quite the same run of fine form as he did last year, but he is still a very dangerous player on hard courts (particularly if his lefty serve is working) and will be a player the top seeds are not going to want to face during the first week. Nicolas Almagro has had a brilliant 2011 season and comes into the US Open in the best form of any of the Spanish players. He has traditionally not enjoyed the hard courts at the Open, but he certainly has the game to win here if he decides to just ignore the limitations of the surface and just let his shots fly. Feliciano Lopez is another tough Spanish lefty with a great serve, big forehand and dramatically improved backhand who could string together several upsets and go deep at this year’s Open. Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka and the Czech Republic’s Thomas Berdych also have had excellent seasons in 2011 and any one of them cannot be counted out to at least get as far as the quarters or semis this year, if they get on a run in New York and the draw opens up just a bit. And the sentimental favorite on the men’s side this year has to be Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who won the US Open Series tournament in Los Angeles this summer over Mardy Fish and who is coming back from injuries and looking to make up for lost time over the last half of last year. His game is so very reminiscent of former US Open champion Marat Safin, and if he can stay healthy and concentrate for the full fortnight, he has the game to beat anyone and could come out of nowhere to lift the trophy on the last Sunday. All in all, the 2011 US Open promises to be extremely entertaining on both the men’s and women’s sides and look for at least one unexpected finalist contesting for each title this year.