NEW YORK—Yesterday we looked at the players and performances that we’ll remember from this year’s U.S. Open. Now it’s time to render a verdict, before it's too late, on those that we’re probably going to forget. I’d even forgotten a couple of them myself before I wrote this. When a Grand Slam is going on, two weeks can seem like a very long time.
Angelique Kerber
Here come the German women: We knew about Julia Goerges and Andrea Petkovic; over the last two weeks we discovered the heavy-hitting lefty Kerber. She was given a smooth road to the semis when Maria Sharapova was upset, but I liked the way she never gave in against Sam Stosur in the semis. Down 0-5, Kerber started getting to balls she hadn’t been getting to before, and was just a point or two from making it very interesting. An A for effort, and an A- for the tournament.
The Rebellion in the Rain
When Rafa, Andy, and Andy made their feelings known about playing on wet courts, I thought it would be a one-day story, that everything would go back to normal once play began again. Two days later, the Open, after listening to player complaints, scheduled a day between the men’s semis and final for the first time since the tournament came to Flushing Meadows in 1978.This may not be the end of the story, after all.
As Roddick later said, it will always be hard to get a lot of pros with different agendas to band together, but at least the idea is in the air now. Roddick himself is a leader, and Rafa showed his wisdom when he said that he realized the players’ needs aren’t the be-all and end-all of tennis, that there’s a lot more to the sport. You could do worse than having those two guys involved in a union. First order of business: Try to push to end Super Saturday for good. Second order of business: Revenue sharing, which is something every player has a stake in.
Worry: By the end of the tournament, Andy Murray said that he wished the Open hadn’t re-scheduled the final for Monday. If a player can’t even agree with himself, that’s not a good sign. A-
P. Diddy
He was kind of left out in all of the celebrating in Djokovic’s box after the Federer match, but kudos to him for sticking it out. A-
Caroline Wozniacki
She was a disappointing against Serena, but this was still the best major she’s had since Australia. Her comeback win over Svetlana Kuznetsova brought back the toughness, and in the end, the joy, that had been missing from her game for months. An experience to build on. B+
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
She’s moving forward. She beat the woman, Francesca Schiavone, who beat her in Paris, and more important she did it by coming up with big shots to break serve at the end of the third set, against one of the game's savviest competitors. Then she played Serena. B+
Christina McHale
Like fellow American Donald Young, she got the home folks riled up for a day or two before fading away quickly. She has clean strokes and a quiet tenacity, which should keep her moving up, if slowly. B+
Andy Murray
Bad: He finished with yet another confused and angry loss to Rafael Nadal. Good: He admitted afterward that he needs to do something about his negativity and volatility on court. He’s right. Still, while it may be hard to recognize now, this was the best season of Murray's career; he reached all four Slam semifinals for the first time. It won’t be easy, but he needs to fix his ’tude if he’s going to go farther next year. B
John Isner
He looked good all tournament and seemed ready to reach a Slam semi, or maybe even a final. And he looked very good in the last two sets against Murray. Isner continues to surprise and improve. Next step: Some serious inroads at a Masters tournament this fall. B
Andy Roddick
He played a great match against David Ferrer on his new favorite court, No. 13, then had nothing left for Rafa the next day. For a few hours, Roddick seemed to take charge of the entire U.S. Open, and while he might have done it with better manners—“What are we doing out here, Brian?”—he had a point. While officials bumbled, Andy got on with things. B
Donald Young
Remember him? It was nice to see him win, and nice to see him smile, but the old problems—too much anger, too little power—bubbled back up in his fast loss to Murray. This tournament is something he can build on, obviously, but he’s got a ways to go, consistency-wise, before we’ll see him as a fixture in the Top 30. Or 40. 50? B
Irina Falconi
A great, patriotic winning leap, then it was quickly back to earth in an 0 and 1 drubbing at the hands of Lisicki. B
Vera Zvonareva
Really, what is it about Stosur that gives her such fits? Granted, the woman went on to win the Open, but eight straight losses to a lower-ranked player is hard to figure. B-
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
OK, I can relax for the next couple of months, knowing the French guys will never do anything major at a major. At least until Tsonga or Monfils win Paris and I start wondering again. B-
Maria Sharapova
The serve problem isn’t going away, and fighting spirit can’t always make up for it. C-
Philipp Petzschner
He didn't admit that a ball had hit him. Some say, "That's what officials are for." And baseball fans know that a batter isn't expected to admit that a pitch didn't hit him when the ump says it did. But to me, this is what elevates tennis. In this sport, truth, rather than the official's call, is paramount. F
Decision to Put a Women’s Semifinal on the Grandstand
Armstrong was out of commission, and there were only so many hours in the day on Saturday to put matches on in Ashe. But if this one had involved Sharapova, rather than Stosur and Kerber, you can be pretty sure it would have been played in Ashe on Friday night. In the end, it only made Stosur’s final-round victory—in the big stadium—that much sweeter. F