At stake for the two finalists, Andy Murray and Roger Federer, is prestige of winning the US Open title, the final Grand Slam tennis event of the year.
As runner-up in the 2008 US Open Series, Andy Murray has already increased his prize money by $250,000 by reaching the final here and is assured of taking home $1 million. If he wins the title here, his bonus would double to $500,000 and he would pocket a total of $2 million.
Twenty-one different men have won US Open titles in the Open Era, the second fewest of any of the 4 Grand Slam events. The number will increase this year if Andy Murray upsets four-time winner Federer today.
Likewise, the Grand Slam singles titleists club will welcome a new member if Murray wins. He will become the 51st man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era, and the 11th to claim his first major title at the US Open.
Today marks the 7th successive meeting between European men in a Grand Slam final. Fernando Gonzalez was the last non-European men’s Grand Slam finalist at the 2007 Australian Open. This will be the 18th successive Grand Slam tournament won by a European man.
Rain has forced the US Open men’s singles final into Monday for the first time since 1987. Back then, Ivan Lendl defeated Mats Wilander for the men’s title, while Martina Navratilova had to play both her women’s doubles and mixed doubles finals on the Monday, winning both to complete the triple crown. The last time the Grand Slam men’s final extended into Monday was at 2001 Wimbledon, when Goran Ivanisevic and Patrick Rafter played their final on ‘People’s Monday’.
ATP Ranking update
Federer will remain at No. 2 in the post-US Open ATP Rankings, despite No. 1 Nadal losing in the semifinals. Murray will climb two places to a new career-high of No. 4.
2008 ATP Race update
The 2 finalists are also in the top 4 in the 2008 ATP Race through the completion of the semifinals. Federer will take over the No. 2 position from Novak Djokovic if he wins today, while Murray will remain in 4th place. Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have already qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.
The top 7 finishers in the 2008 ATP Race qualify for a place at 2008 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. The 8th place goes to a Grand Slam champion this season who finishes between 8th and 20th in the ATP Race, and if no player fits this classification, the 8th place goes to the player finishing 8th in the ATP Race.
Murray is one of just 3 active players to boast a winning head-to-head over Federer (minimum two matches played), alongside Dominik Hrbaty and Rafael Nadal.
Their first meeting came almost 3 years ago, when Murray reached his first ATP final at 2005 Bangkok as a wildcard, defeating 3 seeded players before losing to Federer in the final. At 2006 AMS Cincinnati, Murray joined Nadal as the only players to defeat the then-world No. 1 in 2006, and at Dubai this year, again upset Federer in the 1st round.
When Andy Murray won the boys’ title here back in 2004, he was given a ticket to watch Federer win his first US Open title in Arthur Ashe stadium, two days after the Swiss had defeated Murray’s compatriot Tim Henman in the semifinals.
Murray is bidding to become just the 3rd player to win both the boys’ and the men’s titles here, after Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick. Federer became a boys-to-men champion when he won his first Wimbledon title in 2003; he had won junior Wimbledon in 1998 as a 16-year-old. (ITF Tennis)
