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The US Open is the oldest Grand Slam tournament after Wimbledon. It is the only Grand Slam tournament to have been played on all three surfaces (1881-1974 on grass, 1975-1977 on clay and from 1978 onwards on hardcourts).
The US Open is the culmination of a seven-week North American outdoor hardcourt swing on the tour. Most top players arrive at the second hardcourt Grand Slam event of the year after an exhausting season which opens the door of opportunity for the new or less established ones to make a big run or a major breakthrough at the last Grand Slam event of the year.
Let us have a look at the last five players to have made their major breakthroughs at Flushing Meadows:
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#5 Marin Cilic (2014)
Marin Cilic arrived at the 2014 US Open with loads of confidence following a haul of two titles earlier in the season.
The Croatian was put to a stern test in the fourth round where Gilles Simon took two sets off him. Cilic had to dig deep to overcome the Frenchman in a five-set encounter and then went on to beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets for his second Grand Slam semi-final berth.
Cilic stunned the tennis world with a spectacular performance against five-time champion Roger Federer that the Swiss had no answer to. In the final, he met Kei Nishikori who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final, thus guaranteeing a first-time Grand Slam champion in New York.
Cilic rode on his fabulous shotmaking to overpower his Japanese opponent in straight sets that gave him his first and only Grand Slam trophy till date.
The win enabled Cilic to become the lowest-ranked Grand Slam winner since the 44th ranked Gaston Gaudio edged Guillermo Coria in the 2004 French Open final.
#4 Andy Murray (2012)
Murray arrived at the US Open after a title run in Brisbane, a semifinal exit against Djokovic at the Australian Open, a defeat against Federer in the Dubai final and a loss against Djokovic in the Miami title match before being thwarted in a fourth straight Grand Slam final by Federer at Wimbledon.
In his eighth appearance at the US Open, the third-seeded Murray opened his campaign with successive straight-set victories over Aleksandr Bogomolov Junior and Ivan Dodig before needing three tie-break sets to see off Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez in a four-set encounter.
Murray beat Raonic in straight sets in the fourth round to reach the quarter-finals where he overcame Marin Cilic in four sets. In the last-four, Murray fought back from a set deficit to oust Federer's conqueror Tomas Berdych to reach his second US Open title match (in 2008 he lost to Federer) where Djokovic awaited.
In a gruelling near five-hour battle, the Scot took a two-set lead only for the defending champion to take the next two sets and force a decider. An injured Djokovic, however, ceased to be competitive in the fifth set as Murray sprinted to the finish line to land the biggest title of his career.
In the process, Murray became the first British men's singles player since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam title.
#3 Juan Martin del Potro (2009)
Roger Federer, the five-time defending champion on a record 40-match win streak at the tournament, arrived at a sixth consecutive US Open final where he faced 20-year-old Juan Martin del Potro.
Playing in his 4th Major final of the year, the 15-time Grand Slam champion was faster off the blocks as he took the opening set 6-3. Serving for a two-set lead at 5-4, Federer arrived at 30-0. A contentious video referral at 30-30 robbed the Swiss of a set point as Del Potro fired consecutive forehand winners to break back and take the set in a tie-break.
For the first time in the match, the serene Federer appeared ruffled by the young Argentinian's onslaught but the Swiss re-focussed on the task at hand. Federer won three games in a row from 3-4 down as Del Potro leaked successive double faults to concede a two-sets-to-one lead.
At 5-4, 30-30 on the Argentinian's serve in the fourth set, Federer was two points away from an Open Era record sixth US Open title but Del Potro slammed the door shut and won the ensuing tie-break to force a decider.
Federer ran out of steam in the fifth as Del Potro fired blistering forehand winners, breaking the Swiss twice to win the biggest match of his career and land a maiden Grand Slam title.
With his maiden Slam at Flushing Meadows, Del Potro became the youngest US Open champion in 18 years since Lleyton Hewitt triumphed in 2001.
#2 Andy Roddick (2003)
Two-time US Open quarter-finalist Andy Roddick, in his fourth appearance at Flushing Meadows, opened his campaign with a straight-set first-round win over Tim Henman before downing Ivan Ljubicic in a fourth set tie-break in the second round.
In the subsequent rounds, the American beat Flavio Saretta, Xavier Malisse and Sjeng Schalken without dropping a set to reach his first semi-final at the US Open where Wimbledon champion Roger Federer's conqueror David Nalbandian awaited.
Roddick had his sternest test of the tournament against the Argentinian, where he was a point away from a straight-set exit in the third set tie-break which he trailed 2-4 at one point. But the American fought back to take the tie-break and the next two sets, as Nalbandian's challenge disintegrated, to seal a place in his first Grand Slam final.
After Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Agassi in the other semi-final to thwart an all-American US Open final, the onus was on the shoulders of the young Roddick, who turned 21 during the tournament, to continue the home nation's rich legacy at the tournament.
And Roddick did not disappoint. He came back the next day and blasted big serves and blistering groundstrokes to overcome Ferrero in straight sets to land the biggest title of his career and his only Grand Slam title.
The win extended the American's win streak to 19 and helped him to ascend to a career-high World No. 2 ranking. It remains the latest triumph by an American man at the last Grand Slam event of the year.
#1 Lleyton Hewitt (2001)
20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt of Australia arrived at the 2001 US Open after winning titles in Sydney, Queens and s-Hertogenbosch.
In only his third appearance at Flushing Meadows, Hewitt had a straight-set first-round win over Swede Magnus Gustafsson before overturning a two-sets-to-one deficit in the second round against James Blake to reach the third round.
Successive wins over Spaniard Albert Portas and Germany's Tommy Haas carried Hewitt onto his second quarter-final at the US Open.
In a hard-fought last-eight clash, Hewitt dropped the opening set and then the fourth set against the big-serving American teenager Andy Roddick before taking a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win. It made him return to the semi-finals where he dropped only four games against Kafelnikov to reach his first Grand Slam final against 13-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras.
The American's bid to land a record-equalling fifth US Open title was thwarted for a second straight year in the title match, as Hewitt emerged a straight-set victor to win his maiden Grand Slam title.
