Wait, what?! Four fascinating stats from the 2016 season

Over the course of an arduously long tennis season, many unbelievable things occur, and a good portion of them get overlooked. That’s just the nature of the beast; 11 months, over 100 tournaments, thousands of players. Some things are bound to get missed. Here are four fascinating facts that caught our eye, and some background to illustrate their significance.

The first Frenchman to end a season No. 1, in either singles or doubles? How is that possible from such a tennis-rich nation? Kudos to Nicolas Mahut, who won six doubles titles—including three Masters and Wimbledon—in 2016, and now has 16 doubles trophies for his career. He also picked up his fourth singles title in June, defeating Gilles Muller in the Ricoh Open final. He’s often overlooked in favor of his much-accomplished countrymen, but Mahut’s legacy will go far beyond playing in the longest match in tennis history. Or at least it should…

Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet have had excellent careers, but only Tsonga has reached the Top 5 in singles. Yannick Noah reached No. 1 in doubles in 1986 and 1987, but Andres Gomez and Robert Seguso finished those years atop the rankings, respectively. Guy Forget, another legendary Frenchman, never surpassed No. 4 in singles or No. 3 in doubles.

It’s worth noting that while Mahut was the individual No. 1, the top-ranked doubles team was actually Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who Mahut won five of his six titles with in 2016, finished second in the rankings.

That’s some pretty incredible company for the Czech, who had a remarkable season in 2016.

It happened at the U.S. Open. Sixth-seeded Venus Williams took the first set from Karolina Pliskova in the fourth round, but the big-serving 24-year-old came back to win the second set and take the decider in a tiebreaker. She proceeded to roll past Ana Konjuh, 6-2, 6-2, setting up a semifinal clash with Serena. In a stunning upset, Pliskova completed the Williams double with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) triumph. Pliskova was into her first Grand Slam final, and Serena was ousted in the U.S. Open semis for the second straight year.

As for the trio of legends in the tweet, Martina Hingis beat Serena and Venus in the 2001 Australian Open quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively—she went on to lose to Jennifer Capriati in the final—and Justine Henin ousted Serena and Venus in the 2007 U.S. Open quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The Hall of Famer then defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova for her second U.S. Open title. At the U.S. Open in 2009, Kim Clijsters outlasted third-seeded Venus, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4, in the fourth round, and then eliminated Serena, 6-4, 7-5, in the semis. In the final, Clijsters edged Caroline Wozniacki to win the U.S. Open a second time.

Again? Again?! Again?!?! That’s what just about everybody was thinking as Novak Djokovic sailed his way into the semifinals in Flushing Meadows. Not that Nole has anything to apologize for; rather, it was simply amazing that he was gifted such luck. And that it kept happening over and over and over.

After defeating Jerzy Janowicz in four sets in the first round, the then-world No. 1 moved into the third round when Jiri Vesely withdrew before the match. Mikhail Youzhny retired in the first set in the third round, and then in the quarterfinals—after dispatching Kyle Edmund in straights—Djokovic advanced to the semis when Tsonga, trailing two sets to none, decided to call it quits. He had little problem with Monfils in the semifinals, but was upset by Stan Wawrinka in the final.

John McEnroe went through something similar in Queens 37 years prior. At the 1979 U.S. Open, the American completed just 10 sets en route to the semis. John Lloyd withdrew before their third-round match, and ninth-seeded Eddie Dibbs retired after just three games in the quarterfinals. McEnroe went on to beat Jimmy Connors in the semifinals and Vitas Gerulaitis in the final to win his maiden U.S. Open.

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This is one of those statistics that, in the shadow of the U.S. Open, somehow fell under the radar and was barely talked about. Despite being on site at Flushing Meadows every day of the tournament, this record-breaking mark escaped me. It wasn’t until I did some research that I found the gem.

Seventy-two! It’s an incredible feat, and a true testament to the longevity of one of the greatest women’s players of all time. It’s easy to forget, especially considering that she’s as relevant as ever off the court and still a top competitor on it, that the elder Williams turned pro way back in 1994.

John McEnroe was still playing in 1994, to put it into perspective.

Venus, 36, won her 49th singles title in 2016, not to mention the Wimbledon doubles crown with her sister, Serena. She reached as high as No. 6 in singles this season and finished a very respectable No. 17.

There’s no sign that she’s going to call it quits any time soon, either. The 23-time Grand Slam champion (singles, doubles and mixed doubles combined) said last month that she hopes to play the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

That record is just going to continue to climb.