The year 2019 was full of some best Grand Slam matches in Men’s tennis. Some of the hard fought contests brought forth surprising results where the favorites were toppled by the underdogs. Let’s recall the 3 biggest upset matches in the 2019 Grand Slam matches.
Dimitrov Beat Federer US Open Quarterfinal
Roger Federer had not won a slam since Australian Open 2018. At Wimbledon he missed the chance by a narrow margin and was determined to add to his tally in New York. The Swiss great raced to the quarterfinal overcoming some resistance by India’s Sumit Nagal and Belgian David Goffin. The Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov the one in the way of the Swiss maestro.
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Dimitrov had lost just one set prior to this match. Federer took the early lead by winning the 1st set and Dimitrov would draw level by conquering the 2nd set. When Federer too the 3rd set 6-3 it appeared that the Swiss great was one step closer to a 6th US Open title.
The match reached interesting stages when Grigor Dimitrov broke in the 10th game of 4th set and thus levelled the match. With the match now becoming a one set shootout, Federer’s game as well as energy levels dropped considerably. In the final set Dimitrov was able to break the Federer serve twice and clinched the match to book his place in his 2nd Grand Slam semi-final.
Wawrinka Beat Djokovic US Open 4th Round
The US Open has famously been called as Grand Slam of upsets and surprises. Another massive surprise happened in the 4th round this year with the World Number 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic who was a huge favorite to win the title crash out as the hands of Stan Wawrinka. Djokovic had progressed till here without the loss of any set and Wawrinka had to survive some close contests.
The match started with each player holding his serve but Novak was looking far from his best that day. Wawrinka would break midway in the 1st set and closing stages of the 2nd set to take a 2 sets to none unassailable lead. The Swiss again broke in the 3rd set start and that was all for Djokovic to call it a retirement. It was visible that the shoulder pain was causing Djokovic problems to serve as well as play the backhand.
Tsitsipas Beat Federer Australian Open 4th Round
Roger Federer was the 2 time defending champion in the 1st Grand Slam of 2019. He progressed to the 4th round facing virtually no resistance and without the loss of a single set. The Swiss was about to face the biggest test in the tournament in the form of rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek had lost one set each in all the 3 matches played so far in the tournament.
Federer started as an obvious favorite and lived up to that by winning the 1st set in a tie breaker. The 2nd set followed the same fate but this time it was the Greek sensation who would come out a winner in the tie breaker and thus level the match. The 3rd set was also tightly contested and looked to go to a tie breaker also. But it the closing stage Tsitsipas broke the Federer serve and clinched the set, now leading by 2 sets to 1.
The Greek showed a mature head on his young shoulders and kept holding his serve in the 4th set. Another tie breaker was needed to decide the fate of the match. This time again the Greek star was able to cross the line and enter in his 1st Grand Slam quarterfinal. The 6 time Australian Open champion Roger Federer lost in Melbourne after winning 17 successive matches. It was the biggest Grand Slam upset of the year 2019.