US Open: A look at 5 big upsets in the last decade
Following the clay and grass stints of the season, the US Open is the culmination of an exhausting seven-week North American hardcourt swing. Most top players arrive fatigued at the US Open which increases the probability of a lower-ranked player to spring a surprising result against a higher-ranked one.
This explains why the US Open has produced the most number of different winners in the last two decades, compared to the four other Grand Slams, including the most number of first-time Slam winners.
Let us have a flashback of the 5 big upsets in the last decade at the US Open:
#5 2013 Fourth Round: Robredo beats Federer 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4
Spaniard Tommy Robredo was winless in his 10 previous meetings with Roger Federer, going into his 2013 fourth-round match against the 5-time champion.
On a rain-affected day at the US Open, Federer's match was shifted to the second show court to clear a backlog of matches. The Swiss had been suffering from poor form and a bad back throughout the season but hinted signs of a turnaround by winning his first three matches at Flushing Meadows.
Robredo twice led by a break in the first set only for Federer to force a tie-break where the Swiss took only three points to concede a one-set lead.
In the second set, Federer lost serve twice and dropped three games in a row to fall two sets behind. Hopes of a comeback dissipated in the third set when Federer dropped his serve to love in the seventh game and squandered six break points.
Robredo served out the match to land one of the biggest wins of his career as Federer failed to reach the quarter-finals at the Flushing Meadows for the first time in 10 years.