August 30 – US Open History

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2011

August 30 - US Open History

Lauren Davis of the US hits a return to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their first round match on the second day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 30 August 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/PETER FOLEY |

(Courtesy of USTA)

In 2009 the US Open broke with previous form, inviting the men to lead off the Night Session and the women to close out the day’s play. That tradition continues tonight with defending champion Rafael Nadal warming up the crowd for the return of Serena Williams, the three-time US Open champion missed the 2010 Open with a foot injury and sat out the first half of this year with a pulmonary embolism. She returned this summer to win the Olympus US Open Series title to break back into the Top 30 and enter the event seeded No. 28— potentially setting herself up to be one of the lowest-seeded champions in US Open history. Williams is flanked in the women’s draw today by 2010 US Open women’s doubles champion Vania King and five American upstarts, all 21 or younger, including USTA Girls’ 18s champion Lauren Davis and fast-rising Sloane Stephens, the three-time junior Grand Slam doubles champion who would break into the Top 100 for the first time with a victory today. Among the American men, a resurgent James Blake returns to action in his hometown Grand Slam and three of the top collegiate players in the country from last season—Bradley Klahn, Michael Shabaz and Rhyne Williams—take to the court in doubles.

ON THIS DAY IN US OPEN HISTORY – August 30

1927 – Helen Wills wins her fourth U.S. women’s singles crown, defeating 16-year-old Betty Nuthall of Great Britain, 6-1, 6-4, in the final.

1978 – The USTA National Tennis Center hosts its first full day of US Open tennis. Arthur Ashe plays the most exciting match of the day, saving three match points in the second-set tiebreak to defeat Ross

Case, 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, in a best-of-three-sets first round match. Ashe calls the new USTA National Tennis Center “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

1979 – In one of the wildest matches ever at the US Open, John McEnroe defeats Ilie Nastase, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that features Nastase being defaulted by chair umpire Frank Hammond. An 18-minute free-for-all ensues in which fans become uncontrollable and Nastase is reinstated by tournament referee Mike Blanchard. Blanchard replaces Hammond in the chair for the remainder of the match. Earlier in the day, Kathy Horvath is five days past her 14th birthday when she loses a first round match to Diane Fromholtz, 7-6, 6-2, becoming the youngest person to play a match at the US Open.

1988 – Eighteen-year-old Jim Courier and 17-year-old Pete Sampras make their US Open debuts. Courier defeats Horst Skoff of Austria in the first round, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, while Sampras falls to Peru’s Jaime Yzaga, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.

1989 – Down match point, Boris Becker benefits from a let-cord passing shot at match point down and rallies to defeat Derrick Rostagno, 1-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. Also in the stadium, qualifier Paul Haarhuis stuns No. 4 seed John McEnroe, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in one of the biggest upsets in US Open history. In the next match on the stadium court, 18-year-old Pete Sampras upsets defending champion and No. 5 seed Mats Wilander, 5-7, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

2005 – No. 4 seed Andy Roddick loses his first round match against 68th-ranked Gilles Muller, 7-6(4), 7- 6(8), 7-6(1), on his 23rd birthday during the night session. The loss spoils American Express’ ad campaign surrounding the former champion’s “mojo.”

2007 – In a wild match in front of a raucous night crowd, James Blake posts his first career five-set victory by outlasting Fabrice Santoro, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in a second round matchup. Both men receive a standing ovation from the packed house, which stays until the very end—the first featured night match of the 2007 US Open to go past midnight. It is just the 19th match since Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997 to close the day in the highest of style—five sets of tennis.

2008 – The match between Andy Roddick and Ernests Gulbis runs so long, both players age one year. A match that started the evening of August 29 runs deep into the night as Roddick turns away Gulbis, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-5. The match ends at 1:34 a.m. on August 30, which just happens to be Roddick’s 26^th birthday and Gulbis’ 20th.