With the 2013 tennis season in the past, it's time to dole out our annual awards. Look for the winners—for better or worse—throughout this week on TENNIS.com. (To see what's been unveiled thus far, click here.)
U.S. Open, First Round: No. 296 Victoria Duval d. No. 11 Samantha Stosur, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Bouncing on her toes in excitement, Victoria Duval looked like a teenager going places at the outset of this U.S. Open opening-round match. Down a set and 2-4, Duval took the packed crowd in Louis Armstrong Stadium along on a thrill ride and was flying high at the finish of a stunning upset of the 2011 U.S. Open champion.
Wearing a purple dress designed by Venus Williams, optic yellow sweatbands that matched her yellow shoelaces, and an effervescent smile, Duval took her shot at the upset on the rise, repeatedly cracking her forehand cross-court with ambition.
"I definitely think that getting to the next level in tennis is being able to go after your shots," Duval said. "These girls hit really hard. I wouldn't have pulled it off today if I wasn't confident in my shots. I was willing to take that risk and it paid off."
The 17-year-old qualifier took advantage of 56 errors from Stosur, who played tight tennis trying to combat an exuberant opponent, an energetic American crowd, and her stiff-armed backhand. Stosur, who struggled to string points together in the critical stages of the decisive set, conceded she sabotaged her own cause.
"I feel like credit to her. I'm not going to be a sore loser and say she didn't do anything," Stosur said afterward. "But, you know, I think I certainly helped her out there today, that's for sure."
Stosur arrived in Flushing Meadows fresh off experiencing both triumph—she defeated world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka for the first time in nine meetings in the Carlsbad final to claim her first title since the 2011 Open—and turmoil: The 29-year-old Aussie severed ties with her long-time coach David Taylor nine days before the tournament began, and admitted the timing of the split was unsettling.
"I think we both were kind of feeling that we'd almost come to the end. Unfortunately, it happened to be last week," Stosur said before the Open began. "I don't think either of us would have wanted it to happen right then, and obviously with winning that tournament almost makes it seem a little bit strange."
Duval's electric evening in New York came after a year after her U.S. Open debut, when former champion Kim Clijsters crushed her, 6-3, 6-1, then asked for a photo with the teen afterward, believing in her bright future. The Haitian-born American endured some tough times to reach her breakthrough win: Her family was victimized by an armed robbery when she was seven, and her father survived the island's 2010 earthquake by digging himself out of the rubble.
Clawing back from the second-set hole, Duval hit a forehand winner on her fourth match point, then bounced high off the blue court in a joyful jump to celebrate her first win in a Grand Slam tournament.
"I don't even remember match point," Duval said. "I guess I was really happy. I mean, you could tell by all the jumping I did."
Duval attributed her upset to competing with both fire and fun.
"I'm very much of a child at heart. On the court, you have to be a warrior because that's just the sport we are in," Duval said. "My motto is: Have fun."