US Open: A look at the last 5 men's singles champions

The US Open is the oldest Grand Slam tournament after Wimbledon. With its first edition in 1881, it is the only Grand Slam to have been played every year since its inaugural edition.

After 93 years on grass, the US Open moved to clay for three seasons (1975-77) before transitioning to a hardcourt surface called 'DecoTurf' and onto its present home at Flushing Meadows in 1978.

As the 139th edition of the US Open gets underway next week, let us have a look at the last five men's singles champions at the last Grand Slam event of the year.

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#5 Novak Djokovic (2018)

2018 US Open champion Djokovic poses with his trophy

Novak Djokovic, on the comeback trail from an elbow injury and subsequent surgery, turned around an underwhelming 6-6 start to the season by winning his 4th Wimbledon title and a maiden title in Cincinnati which made him the first player to win all nine Masters 1000 titles.

Arriving at the US Open as the sixth seed, Djokovic beat Federer's conqueror John Millman in the quarter-finals to reach his 11th consecutive US Open semi-final where he overcame 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori to reach a record 8th title match at the US Open (tied with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras).

Determined not to be the first player to lose six US Open finals in the Open Era, Djokovic overwhelmed 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets to win his second Grand Slam title of the year and third at Flushing Meadows.

The Serb's 14th career singles Grand Slam title returned him to the top three of the ATP rankings for the first time since the 2017 French Open.

The first half of the season receded to a blur and the comeback was complete when Djokovic became the first player ranked outside the top-20 to close the season as the year-end World No. 1.

#4 Rafael Nadal (2017)

2017 US Open Champion Rafael Nadal poses with his trophy

Following a 5-set loss to his long-time rival Roger Federer at the 2017 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal ended a three-year Grand Slam drought by winning his tenth title at the French Open for his 15th career singles Grand Slam title.

Nadal arrived at the US Open as the world's top-ranked player and beat Alexandr Dolgopolov and first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev to reach his first semi-final at the tournament in four years. Del Potro had thwarted a first-ever Federer-Nadal match-up at Flushing Meadows by beating the Swiss in a four-set last-eight clash, a result which allowed Nadal to hold on to his No. 1 ranking.

In his first US Open meeting with Del Potro since being allowed just six games in the 2009 semi-finals by the eventual champion, Nadal was not in the mood for a repeat result as he beat the Argentinian in four sets to move into his first US Open final since 2013.

In the title match, Nadal overwhelmed first-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa in straight sets to win his first hardcourt title in almost four years, a third US Open title and his 16th Grand Slam.

Nadal's victory at Flushing Meadows meant that the duo of Federer and Nadal swept all four Grand Slam titles in the calendar for the first time since the 2010 season.

#3 Stan Wawrinka (2016)

2016 US Open champion Stan Wawrinka poses with his trophy

Two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, enjoying one of his best seasons on tour, arrived at the 2016 US Open having won titles in Chennai, Dubai and Geneva.

Wawrinka cruised into the third round with consecutive straight-set wins over Fernando Verdasco and qualifier Alessandro Giannessi. In his first stern test in the tournament, Wawrinka fell behind two sets to one against Daniel Evans and was a point away in the fourth set tie-break from crashing out of the tournament.

To his credit, the Swiss regrouped to save the match point and took the fourth set to force a decider where he cruised to the finish line as Evans's game just fell apart.

Wawrinka beat Ilya Marchenko, 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori in successive four-set wins to reach his first US Open final where defending champion Novak Djokovic awaited.

Exhibiting little big stage fright against the top-seeded Serb, Wawrinka recovered from the loss of the first set to take the next three sets and romp to his first US Open title and third at a Grand Slam.

#2 Novak Djokovic (2015)

2015 US Open champion Novak Djokovic poses with his second US Open trophy

In arguably his best-ever season, Novak Djokovic arrived at the US Open having won Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, and Rome, along with triumphs at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and a third runner-up finish at the French Open.

The top-seeded Serb enjoyed straight-set wins over Joao Souza, Andreas Haider-Maurer and Andreas Seppi before dropping his first set of the tournament against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut to move into the quarter-finals.

Djokovic overcame another Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in four sets to reach his ninth straight US Open semi-final where he dispatched defending champion Marin Cilic for the loss of just three games to book a final showdown with Roger Federer. In the process, Djokovic became the first player after Laver (1969) and Federer (2006, 2007, 2009) to reach all four Slam finals in the same season.

For the second time in the year and for the third time in succession, Djokovic conquered the five-time US Open champion in a Slam final to land his second US Open title and record his tenth triumph at a Grand Slam.

#1 Marin Cilic (2014)

Marin Cilic poses with his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open

Marin Cilic arrived at the 2014 US Open after title triumphs in Zagreb and Delray Beach earlier in the season.

The Croatian earned a retirement victory over Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and a straight-set win over Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko in the second round before dropping his first set of the tournament against Kevin Anderson in a four-set third round win.

A sterner test awaited Cilic in the fourth round where Gilles Simon took two sets off the Croatian before Cilic overcame the Frenchman in a five-set encounter to reach his third US Open quarter-final. There he beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets to move into his second Grand Slam semi-final and first at the US Open.

In the last-four, Cilic played 'lights out' tennis to beat five-time champion Roger Federer in straight sets en route to his first Grand Slam final. With Nishikori beating Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final, a first-time Grand Slam champion was guaranteed.

In the first Grand Slam title match between two first-time finalists since the 2005 French Open (Nadal beat Puerta), Cilic produced big serves and blistering groundstrokes to overpower his Japanese opponent in straight sets and land the biggest title of his career.

Cilic thus became the lowest seed to triumph at Flushing Meadows since 17th seed Sampras' win in 2002. In the process, Cilic became the lowest-ranked Grand Slam winner since the 44th ranked Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open) and broke into the top 10 for the first time in his career.