Review of the 2019 Grand Slam season: 2019 ends 20-19
The recently concluded US Open brought the 2019 Grand Slam season to a close. For the first time in eight years, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal swept all the four Majors in a season. This is also the year in which Nadal pulled to within 1 Grand Slam title of Roger Federer.
It is the closest Nadal has got to Federer's Grand Slam tally since the Swiss maestro won his first title at Wimbledon in 2003. Federer has been the all-time Grand Slam title leader since winning his 15th title at the 2009 Wimbledon.
The season also saw Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece become the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist since Novak Djokovic at the 2007 French Open (lost to Nadal). Tsitsipas' quarterfinal with Roberto Bautista Agut marked the second time in as many years that two first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalists clashed at the Australian Open (Hyeon Chung beat Tennys Sandgren in the last-eight in Melbourne in 2018).
In the first Slam of the year, Djokovic beat Nadal to become the first player in the Open Era to triumph seven times at the Australian Open. It also marked the third time in his career that he had won 3 or more consecutive Grand Slam finals (2011 Wimbledon to 2012 Australian Open, 2015 Wimbledon to 2016 Roland Garros).
Meanwhile, Federer returned to Roland Garros for the first time in four years and reached the semifinal where he lost to Nadal for the sixth time in as many meetings between the pair at the clay-court Major.
In the other semifinal, Dominic Thiem beat Djokovic in five sets to snap the Serbian's 26-match win streak in Grand Slam singles matches and return to the Roland Garros title match for the second time in as many years.
In a repeat of the 2018 final, Nadal beat Thiem in four sets to lift his 12th French Open title. Thiem, on the other hand, became the fifth player in the Open Era to lose back-to-back French Open finals (Djokovic (2014-15), Soderling (2009-10), Federer (2006-08), and Agassi (1990-91).
Federer arrived at Wimbledon after having secured a tenth title in Halle. The eight-time champion beat Japan's Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals to become the first player at any Grand Slam, or for that matter at any tournament, to win 100 matches.
In a first meeting with his arch-rival Nadal at the grasscourt Major in 11 years, Federer beat the Spaniard in 4 sets to reach his 11th Wimbledon final. In a pulsating title match, featuring a historic first-ever deciding set tiebreak, Federer squandered two championship points on serve in the fifth set, eventually falling to Djokovic.
In the process, Djokovic joined Federer, Sampras, and Borg as five-time champions at SW19. It was the first time in 71 years (Robert Falkenberg beat John Bromwich) that a Wimbledon champion had saved match points in the final.
In the fourth and final Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, defending champion Novak Djokovic was knocked out by Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round. It was the first time in 13 years that the Serb had exited the US Open before the semifinals. Five-time champion Roger Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Grigor Dimitrov for the first time in eight career meetings against the Bulgarian.
Meanwhile, a red-hot Daniil Medvedev, in his maiden Grand Slam semifinal, beat Dimitrov in straight sets to notch up a tour-leading 50th match win of the season. In the process, Medvedev became the first Russian Grand Slam finalist since Marat Safin (beat Lleyton Hewitt) at the 2005 Australian Open.
In the other last-four clash, Rafael Nadal downed another first-time Grand Slam semifinalist, Matteo Berrettini of Italy, to become the only player in the Open Era after Federer to reach five finals at all the four Grand Slam tournaments.
In the first US Open final in ten years to go the distance, Medvedev recovered from two sets and a break down in the third to force a fifth set but rued squandering three break points at 1-0 on Nadal's serve as the Spaniard held on for a 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 win to register his 4th title at Flushing Meadows. With the victory, Nadal pulled to within one Slam of Federer's all-time record haul of 20 Grand Slam titles.
In a year when Nadal reached at least the semifinals at all four Majors for the first time since 2008, the Spaniard's win over Medvedev in the US Open final extended the Slam winning streak of the big-three (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) to 12. Medvedev, meanwhile, narrowly fell short in his bid to become the 55th different player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title.
The big three are clearly getting older (Federer is 38, Nadal is 33, Djokovic is 32) but their Grand Slam stranglehold seems unlikely to end any time soon.