Grand Slams
United States
Tennis; the 4 Grand Slams: Australian Open / Roland Garros / Wimbledon / US Open
US Open
Match scheduled:
02-09-2009 from 15:00 until 22:00
Day 3 - Second Round :: Grand Slam US Open 2009 - Flushing Meadows :: New York, USA
Women's Singles - 2nd Round
Melinda Czink(HUN) vs Serena Williams(USA)
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Complete Schedule of Play: The Schedule. Most channels showing the Centre Court or Court 1. We will try to keep the US Open channels as up to date as possible, as those show the most various coverage | Also be aware not all channels are showing tennis non stop. Some channels
might have interruptions!
Williams did not play at the 2004 Australian Open as she continued to recover from her knee injury. She then withdrew from further tournaments, which generated speculation that she was losing interest in the game.[22] Williams finally returned at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in late March, where she defeated the rising Maria Sharapova en route to the final, where she defeated Elena Dementieva to win the title for the third consecutive year.
However, suggestions that Williams was about to resume her dominance of the game were premature; she failed to win any of her first three clay-court events of the year. She then lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Jennifer Capriati, Williams' earliest loss at a Grand Slam since 2001. She rebounded at Wimbledon, where she defeated Capriati 6–1, 6–1 in the quarterfinals and then came back from a set and a break down to win in the semifinals against Amelie Mauresmo to make the final for the third consecutive year. However, there, she was upset by the 17-year old Sharapova 6–1, 6–4. Williams' failure to defend her Wimbledon title resulted in her losing her place in the world's top 10 for the first time since early 1999.
Williams reached her third final of the year at the beginning of the summer hardcourt season at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, but then she lost to Lindsay Davenport 6–1, 6–3, her first loss to Davenport since 2000. Williams was then forced to withdraw from the Athens Olympics due to a knee injury. She returned for the US Open, but lost a quarterfinal match with Capriati in which there were several missed calls, including an egregious call which led to the suspension of the chair umpire for the remainder of the tournament; this match is commonly referred to as the impetus for the current challenge system
Williams won her second title of the year at the China Open, in which she defeated recent US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams qualified for the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, where she defeated Mauresmo in the semifinals but again lost to Sharapova in the final 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, having led 4–0 in the third set before suffering an abdominal injury which resulted in her serving balls below 90 mph.[25] Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, and had not won a Grand Slam for the first year since 2001.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis following Venus's early exit at the tournament.[26] In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Serena defeated second seed Mauresmo 6–2, 6–2. In the semifinals, she saved three match points in defeating fourth seed Sharapova 2–6, 7–5, 8–6. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport 2–6, 6–3, 6–0 to win her second Australian Open title and seventh Grand Slam singles title. The win moved Williams back to World No. 2, and she stated she was now targeting the number one spot.
However, Williams failed to reach the final at any of the other tournaments during the spring hardcourt season, a period that included a loss to sister Venus in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in March – her first loss to Venus since 2001. She withdrew from the French Open due to an ankle injury. She returned for Wimbledon, but, after struggling through her first two matches in three sets, she was defeated in the third round by Jill Craybas (ranked World No. 85)
.
As the eighth seed at the 2005 US Open, Williams appeared to be showing improved form by winning her first three matches without dropping a set; however, she then lost to Venus in the fourth round. Serena played just one more match the remainder of the year, a loss to World No. 127 Sun Tiantian at the China Open, and failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998. She finished the season as World No. 11, her first time finishing outside of the world top 10 since 1998.
The following year, as defending champion at the 2006 Australian Open, Williams lost to 17th seed Daniela Hantuchová in the third round.[28] Williams did not play any other tournaments for six months, causing her to fall outside of the top 100 on the rankings for the first time since 1997. Her string of withdrawals led to speculation that she was on the verge of retirement, which she denied.[29] The official reason given for this lengthy absence was to nurse a chronic knee injury, although Williams later admitted she was in need of a mental break.
Williams returned in July at the Cincinnati Masters, where she defeated World No. 11 Anastasia Myskina 6–2, 6–2 in the first round before ultimately losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Jelena Jankovic. At the 2006 US Open, Williams was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1998, having needed to accept a wildcard to enter due to her ranking being so low. She defeated US Open Series champion Ana Ivanovic in the third round, but then lost to top seed Amélie Mauresmo in the fourth round in three sets.[28] She did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked World No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997. Williams had played just four tournaments during the season.
