US Open 2008--The Summary

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Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) Roger Federer won the 13th Grand Slam title of his career, celebrating a spectacular comeback after a (for his standards) shaky year 2008. His surprise opponent in the final was the 21 year old Scotsman Andy Murray, Maegashira 1 before the tournament, who jumps all the way up to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I), the first Sanyaku (= Championship) rank of his career. A semifinal at the Australian Open 2009 would get Murray even up to Ozeki (= Champion) level. Recently crowned Yokozuna Rafael Nadal reached the semifinals, as did Ozeki Novak Djokovic, who therefore overcame the kadoban demotion risk and will retain the Ozeki rank for at least another two tournaments. Former Ozeki Andy Roddick made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in a year and defended his Komosubi (=Junior Champion II) rank. However, all other pre-U.S. open Komosubi -- David Ferrer, Marat Safin, and Rainer Schuettler -- exited early and lose Championship rank. As a consequence, only 5 players will enter the 2009 Australian Open as Sanyaku, the lowest number since 1981.

In the ladies' tournament, Serena Williams topped her Wimbledon final with the 9th Grand Slam title of her career. Serena is therefore only one Slam away from Dai-Yokozuna status (= Distinguished Grand Champion). In the quarterfinal she overcame her sister Venus -- the other active Yokozuna -- in a close encounter, and went on to beat Jelena Jankovic, who regained Sekiwake status. Semifinalists Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva (a former Ozeki and current Olympic champion) will also enter the Australian Open as Sekiwake, as will Ana Ivanovic, who lost Ozeki rank with another early exit -- for the first time since 2001, there is no female Ozeki. Maria Sharapova, who used to hold this rank until recently, withdrew from the tournament and slips to Komosubi. She shares the rank with veteran Patty Schnyder, who returns to the Sanyaku for the first time since 2004.

The Men's Tournament

Result	Name	Old Rank	New Rank	Highest Rank	Career points
Winner	Roger Federer	Y(a)	Y(a)	Y	72
Finalist	Andy Murray	-	S	S	4
Semifinalist	Rafael Nadal	Y(a)	Y(a)	Y	32
Semifinalist	Novak Djokovic	O(k)	O	O	16
Quarterfinalist	Andy Roddick	K	K	O	28
Quarterfinalist	Mardy Fish	-	-	-	2
Quarterfinalist	Juan Martin del Potro	-	-	-	1
Quarterfinalist	Gilles Muller	-	-	-	1
-	Marat Safin	K	-	O	22
-	David Ferrer	K	-	S	5
-	Rainer Schuttler	K	-	S	5

The Women's Tournament

Result	Name	Old Rank	New Rank	Highest Rank	Career points
Winner	Serena Williams	Y(a)	Y(a)	Y	59
Finalist	Jelena Jankovic	K	S	S	12
Semifinalist	Elena Dementieva	S	S	O	17
Semifinalist	Dinara Safina	K	S	S	7
Quarterfinalist	Venus Williams	Y(a)	Y(a)	Y	66
Quarterfinalist	Patty Schnyder	-	K	K	8
Quarterfinalist	Flavia Pennetta	-	-	-	1
Quarterfinalist	Sybille Bammer	-	-	-	1
-	Ana Ivanovic	O(k)	S	O	13
-	Maria Sharapova	S	K	O	29
-	Svetlana Kuznetsova	K	-	O	17
-	Agnieszka Radwanska	K	-	K	2
-	Jie Zheng	K	-	K	2
-	Lindsay Davenport	Y(ia)	Y(ia)	Y	59

Y(a)=Active Yokozuna
Y(ia)=Inactive Yokozuna
O=Ozeki
O(k)=Kadoban Ozeki
S=Sekiwake
K=Komosubi

Final and Seminfinal Results

Men's Final
Federer (Y, seeded 2)	vs.	Murray (-, 2)	6-2, 7-5, 6-2
Women's Final
S. Williams (Y, 4)	vs.	Jankovic (K, former S, 2)	6-4, 7-5
Men's Semifinal
Nadal (Y, 1)	vs.	Murray (-, 6)	2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 4-6
Federer (Y, 2)	vs.	Djokovic (O, 3)	6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
Women's Semifinal
S. Williams (Y, 4)	vs.	Safina (K, former S, 6)	6-3, 6-2
Jankovic (K, former S, 2)	vs.	Dementieva (K, former O, 5)	6-4, 6-4

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