Men's Tennis: 5 Youngest players to win the US Open
The only Grand Slam to be played in 3 different surfaces (grass, clay and hard courts) over the years has been the US Open. The US Open was also way ahead of its time as it became the first Grand Slam to award equal prize money to both men and women.
It introduced equal pay in 1973. It was only about 30 years later that the other Grand Slams followed suit. As of 2018, US Open awards more prize money than any of the other 3 Grand Slam tournaments. It was also the first Grand Slam to enforce a tie-break in the deciding set for both men and women.
In the Amateur Era, 3 players - Bill Tilden, Richard Sears and William Larned top the list of players with most titles at seven apiece. In the Open Era, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer head the charts with five titles each. In all, players belonging to 15 nations have won the US Open with USA leading the pack with its players winning the title on 66 occasions.
We restrict our discussion to the five youngest players to have won the US Open in the Open Era.
#5 Juan Martin Del Potro
One of the most popular players among fans and among the players themselves, Juan Martin Del Potro has built a reputation of being a relentless fighter.
Del Potro first rose to prominence in 2008, going on a 23 match winning streak - making him the only player in ATP history to go on such a long winning streak despite being ranked outside the Top 10. Del Potro finished the year inside the Top-10 of the ATP rankings - making him the youngest player in 2008 to do so.
The following year Del Potro established himself as a force to reckon with attaining a ranking of World Number 5 after beating the like of Rafael Nadal at the Sony Ericcson Open. He lodged another victory against a top-5 player as he beat Murray at the Madrid Masters. By now his stock was rapidly rising and he seeded 6th at the US Open.
Del Potro became the first player to beat both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer back-to-back in a Major tournament. He beat Nadal in the semi-finals and then took out top-seed Federer in an epic 5-set battle to win the US Open. Del Potro was 20 years, 356 days at the time.