On This Day In US Open History – September 1st

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2011

On This Day In US Open History - September 1st |

(courtesy of USTA)

1971 – John Newcombe becomes the first top-seeded man to lose in the first round of the
US Open when
he is defeated by Jan Kodes, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.
1975 – Bjorn Borg ends the Rod Laver era at the US Open, defeating “The Rocket,” 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in the round of 16 in Laver’s final US Open match.

1977 – Renee Richards, the 43-year-old transsexual who fought for more than a year for the right to play in the women’s singles of a major tennis championship, is beaten in the first round by Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade, 6-1, 6-4. Later that evening, 5-foot, 90-pound Tracy Austin, at the age of 14 years, eight months, 20 days, becomes the youngest player to play in the US Open, defeating Heidi Eisterlehner of West Germany, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round. Austin’s mark would be broken in 1979 by 14-year-old Kathy Horvath.
1987 – Fifteen-year-old Michael Chang defeats Paul McNamee, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, to become the youngest man to win a match at the US Open.
1993 – Goran Ivanisevic and Daniel Nestor play the longest tie-break in the history of the US Open (38 points). Ivanisevic prevails 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(18), in a first round encounter.
1994 – Thirty-four-year-old Ivan Lendl plays what becomes his final professional tennis match when he is forced to retire with back pain while trailing Bernd Karbacher of Germany, 6-4, 7-6, 1-0, in the second round of the US Open. Lendl would announce his retirement due to his back problems on Dec. 20.

1997 – Two-time defending US Open champion Pete Sampras has his 17-match winning streak, the fourth longest of the Open Era in men’s singles, snapped with a 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(3) loss to Petr Korda of the Czech Republic in the fourth round.

1998 – Patrick Rafter saves himself from the dubious distinction of becoming the first US Open defending champion to lose in the first round by coming back from two-sets-to-love down to defeat Morocco’s Hicham Arazi, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
2007 – British tennis star Tim Henman closes out his Grand Slam tennis career on Louis Armstrong Stadium, falling to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the second round.

2010 – Eighteen-year-old American qualifier Ryan Harrison notches the first significant upset of the 2010 US Open, knocking off No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6 3, 6-4, to post his first-ever Grand Slam tournament victory.