U.S. Open 2017: Who are defending champions?
By John Buhler
The 2017 U.S. Open will begin on Monday morning at the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Who won the men’s and women’s singles titles last year?
The fourth and final Grand Slam of the 2017 professional tennis season will be under way this week in New York City. That’s right. It’s time for the 137th playing of the U.S. Open. This will be the 137th playing of the tournament and it will begin at the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28.
What makes this tournament so intriguing are the scorching temperatures outside in New York this time of the year and the fast-playing hard courts it will be played on. Before we get to seeing who will win it all this year, let’s take a look back at who win the U.S. Open just a year ago.
The men’s champion was Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka. He defeated nemesis Novak Djokovic for his third career Grand Slam and his first in New York. Interestingly, both players will not be playing in this year’s tournament due to injury. The men’s tournament is losing great players by the day. Apparently, top player Andy Murray will sit out the tournament as well do to an ailing hip.
On the women’s side, German Angelique Kerber won it all last year. She defeated Karolina Pliskova. 2016 was a great, breakout year for Kerber. She won both the Australian Open and the U.S. Open, becoming a top player in the world. Though she hasn’t won a major since, she could be in line to win back-to-back in New York in two weeks time.
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The women’s bracket has been chaotic all season with Serena Williams being out the last two majors due to her pregnancy. While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have dominated the men’s side, it could get interesting in New York City with so many great men’s players having to sit this one out.