TAYLOR FRITZ, SHINGO KUNIEDA AMONG TOP SEEDS TO TRIUMPH AT U.S. OPEN

Written by: Staff on 13th September 2015

TAYLOR FRITZ, SHINGO KUNIEDA AMONG TOP SEEDS TO TRIUMPH AT U.S. OPEN

epa04929278 Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves with a bloody arm after he fell as he chased a return to Roger Federer of Switzerland during the men's final on the fourteenth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 13 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/BRIAN HIRSCHFELD |

Taylor Fritz, Shingo Kunieda among top seeds to triumph at 2015 U.S. Open Tennis By Ricky Dimon

Five different players or teams who were the top seeds in their respective events lifted U.S. Open trophies on Sunday. Novak Djokovic, of course, was the headliner. But that transpired in juniors, mixed doubles, and the wheelchair tournaments should not be overlooked.

The junior boys final was an all-American showdown between No. 1 seed Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. Both players were contesting the last junior match of their careers, but they were not necessarily in the exact same situation. Paul was hoping to win a second slam in less than four months, having previously triumphed at the French Open. Fritz was aiming to capture a major title for the first time in his career.

A back-and-forth encounter saw Fritz ultimately prevail 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2. He led by a set and 5-3 and had a championship point before Paul stormed back to steal the second and seize a quick break for 1-0 in the third. But Fritz righted the ship to take six of the last seven games.

“I wanted to win a junior slam so bad,” Fritz commented. “I was just thinking it’s not going to be easy because I have one chance to do it. When you want something so bad and there is just one last chance there [are] a lot of nerves, and anything can happen. It’s the perfect ending. I can’t believe I actually got the perfect ending.”

It was the same ending–at least of this fortnight–for the dominant duo of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. They won it all in women’s doubles by defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-3.

“We are happy to win our second slam together,” Mirza assured. “We didn’t think when we started playing obviously this was going to happen so soon. Obviously we are the No. 1 team in the world, so we have to keep building on this.”

“All of this today, I think incredible,” Hingis added. “It’s a tremendous bonus in my career of tennis.”

Shingo Kunieda’s amazing wheelchair tennis career reached new heights with a sixth U.S. Open title. Borderline unbeatable at times, Kunieda actually endured a minor scare on Sunday. Stephane Houdet of France took the first set off the Japanese star but the underdog eventually succumbed 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2.

The favorites also got the job done in wheelchair men’s doubles. Houdet bounced back from his loss to take the title along with British partner Gordon Reid. They rolled over Frenchmen Michael Jeremiasz and Nicolas Peifer 6-3, 6-1.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 2015 U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Shingo Kunieda, Taylor Fritz, Tennis News, US Open tennis

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September 13, 2015 at 11:10 pm

-@Taylor_Fritz97, SHINGO KUNIEDA AMONG TOP SEEDS TO TRIUMPH AT U.S. OPEN- http://t.co/490K1qF6Oi #USOpen #UsOpenFinal #USOpen2015 @usopen