Bleacher Report: US Open 2014: Roger Federer Defies Age, Shows Champion's Grit in 5-Set Thriller

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — He was down two sets to none, and even Roger Federer thought the end might be near, that he could be knocked out of the U.S. Open, that his chances for that one last Grand Slam had vanished.

Not that he would ever show it on the court.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic Affirms Status as World's Best in 2014 US Open Win vs Andy Murray

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — It was warm. It was late. But heat and time couldn’t stop Novak Djokovic. Neither could Andy Murray. On a night that rolled into the wee small hours of morning, Djokovic verified his standing as the No. 1 men’s player in tennis.

He wasn’t perfect and had his lapses, but as John McEnroe — who was once in the position Djokovic now stands — pointed out on the ESPN telecast after midnight, all players have their lapses. The question is how many and for how long.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: How the US Open Became the Biggest, Boldest Tournament in Tennis

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We’ll borrow those familiar lyrics, about making it here, making it in the Big Apple, making it in the city that never sleeps — or shuts up. They’ve made it here, created an event that fits the city like a traffic jam on Lexington Avenue. And truly, it doesn’t matter if they make it anywhere else.

The United States Tennis Association has a tournament that’s seemingly endless, incredibly noisy and wonderfully exciting, perfect for New York, perfect for the most boisterous and unavoidable of the four Grand Slams.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray QF Will Give 2014 US Open Its 1st Great Men's Match

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Now it gets serious. Now the men’s game, existing almost in a vacuum while the ladies battered each other and the seedings — joyful confusion, you could call it — grabs its rightful place at the U.S. Open.

Now the big names display what they hope are their big games.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc. 

Bleacher Report: Revived Caroline Wozniacki Eyes 2014 US Open Title After Maria Sharapova Upset

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We called her the Woz, a word play on the Wiz, and on a court Caroline Wozniacki certainly looked like a wiz, a winner, even if she didn’t own a Grand Slam. There wasn’t a shot she couldn’t chase down; there wasn’t a ball she couldn’t return.

She was No. 1 in the women’s rankings for 67 weeks, and in 2009 she made it to the final of the U.S. Open. A loss to Kim Clijsters seemed only a blip, a hiccup as the tennis people say. The Woz was 19, and had to get better.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.