FROM NEW YORK WITH LOVE

US OPEN 2014
A PHOTO ESSAY
By
Ahmed Olayinka Sule, CFA
suleaos@gmail.com
http://about.me/ahmedsule
http://www.scribd.com/Alatenumo/documents

Introduction
The first eight months of 2014 was a challenging year for millions of Serena Williams fans around the world. Grand Slam after Grand Slam we
saw Queen Williams lose to players who on a normal day would struggle to get a game off her. As Serena failed to live up to expectation, the
media and tennis commentators started to write her tennis obituary.
So this was the background at the time when I travelled to New York to watch the 2014 US Open ladies and men's final and the men semi final
matches. In contrast to other visits to the Grand Slam tournament, I was very cautious in not taking a Serena victory for granted. I made every
effort not to jinx her by refraining from watching the 2014 Wimbledon documentary, which was one of the programmes showing on the British
Airways flight to New York. I also decided to wear my custom made Serena tee shirt earlier rather than launching it when I got to New York (as
previous attempts to do so resulted in Serena's early exit)
By the time I landed at JFK International airport, I was optimistic that Sister Serena would prevail not only in her semi final match, but she would
also lift the trophy.
The Matches
The men's semi final featured Djokovic, Federer and two surprise semi finalists namely Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori. Against all the odds, Cilic
defeated 17 times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in three straights set while Kei Nishikori defeated Djokovic by three sets to one. So the
Men's final featured two relatively unknown players. Another interesting feature of the mens semi final was the fact that former Grand Slam
winners such as Stefan Edberg, Michael Chang, Boris Becker and Groan Ivanisevic coached the competitors. In the mens final Cilic defeated
Nishikori in straight sets to win his first Grand Slam title. In the mens doubles final, the Bryan Brothers won the title thereby clinching their
100th career title. In the ladies doubles final Martina Hingis, who recently came out of retirement paired up with Flavia Pennetta but they lost to
the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
The highlight of my trip was the ladies final, which featured Queen Serena Williams and former number one Caroline Wozniacki. Sister Serena
reached the final without dropping a set and she was in devastating form. Wozniacki was playing her best tennis and she had earlier overcome
Sharapova in the fourth round. So who would prevail? Would Wozniacki break her Grand Slam duck or would Serena win her 18th Grand Slam
title thereby equaling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova Grand Slam titles? As the players came out, the spectators applauded. Billie Jean
King tossed the coin and after a couple of photo shoots the game started. The Queen was in the zone and showed her good friend no mercy as
she prevailed in two straight sets 6-3; 6-3. After Serena won, she fell to the ground filled with joy. I also jumped for joy and proudly looked at my
"Serena Rocks" t-shirt.

During the victory ceremony, the Queen was presented with a cheque of $4m and she was inducted into the "Elite Women's Club of 18" by
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. They also presented her with an 18-karat gold Tiffany bracelet.
With this victory, the Queen has sealed her 18th Grand Slam title and her sixth US Open trophy. She also won a third consecutive US Open,
something she had never achieved in her other Grand Slam wins. The remarkable thing about her victory was how she dominated the
opposition. Not only did she not lose a set, she did not lose more than three games in every set she played. She has also set a record for the
highest prize money won by any tennis player (male or female) in a competition. She has also extend the record of longest gap between Grand
Slam wins to 15 years which is a testament to her longevity as a tennis player.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The Queen also took the fashion world by storm days after her victory by presenting her clothing line at the New York Fashion Show. With the
US Open and the New York Fashion Show completed, Sister Serena will be taking a well-deserved break. Her short-term goals are to win the
Year End Championship in Singapore and win another Grand Slam title early in 2015 to catch up with Helen Moody titles. Next year, she will be
focusing more on the Grand Slam and playing less in the other WTA competitions. By the end of next year, we hope she will be approaching
Steffi Graf's record. She will continue training hard and she will continue to remain motivated. We are working hard to ensure that the Queen
rewrites tennis history. Watch this space.
Calendar Grand Slam
A tennis player is said to have completed a Calendar Grand Slam if he or she wins the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon
Championship and the US Open in a calendar year. So far only five people namely Margaret Court, Rod Laver, Don Budge, Maureen Connolly
and Steffi Graf have completed a calendar Grand Slam in the singles. As a side note, by attending this year US Open, I completed what I will
call a "Fans Calendar Grand Slam." In the year 2014, I was able to attend the Australian Open final in January 2014, the French Open final in
June 2014, the Wimbledon final in July 2014 and the US Open final in September 2014.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures that I took at Flushing Meadows.
Regards
Ahmed Olayinka Sule, CFA
September 2014

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GOLDEN MOMENT

MARIN CILICS
GOLDEN MOMENT