1. Like he did against Novak Djokovic in ’09, Roger Fededer pulls off another amazing back-to-the-net/between-the-legs winner — this time against stunned Argentine Brian Dabul in the first round. Said the Swiss, “I turned around and couldn’t believe the shot landed in the corner.”
2. Eighteen-year-old American Ryan Harrison falls in five sets to Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, but not before he somehow manages to chase down a lob and put it away with an unorthodox wrap-around forehand.
3. Not to be outdone by Mr. Federer, the uber-athletic Francesca Schiavone pulls off a tweener of her own against Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko in the third round. Said the Italian, “Is just instinct. Is art. Is something that is coming from inside.”
4. Looking to make the most of his Ashe Stadium spotlight against eventual finalist Novak Djokovic in the quarters, Gael Monfils suffers a brain freeze when he attempts a forward-facing Sabatweeny, smacking the ball directly into the net for an unforced error. Lamented the Frenchman, “I think it was going too fast.”
5. Fernando Verdasco closes out his match-of-the-tournament 5-7, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) comeback against countryman David Ferrer by running down a dropshot and curling a forehand just inside the sideline as he fell to the court in victory. Said the Spaniard, “Is tough to explain. You are with your sixth sense in the ball, in the point.”
6. In his 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 marathon win over Stan Wawrinka in the quarters, Mikhail Youzhny joins the tweener parade when he smacks a sitter back to the Swiss, who punches it wide.
7. In his second-round matchup with Rafael Nadal, Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin puts an end to a seemingly endless rally by lunging toward the net and poking a shot past the eventual champion, leaving a long, dark skid mark as a monument to the moment.
8. In the third set of her semifinal thriller against back-to-back champ Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams shifts the racket to her left hand in order to reach a ball in the corner, a shot that the Belgian dumps into the net.
9. Sam Querrey‘s first-round win over NCAA titlist Bradley Klahn may be best remembered for one highlight-reel shot. Querrey over-hit a forehand approach that struck Klahn directly in the unmentionables. “The first five seconds I thought, ‘That’s alright.’ Then it was, ‘I need a trainer.’ It’s not going to get much worse than getting hit there in front of all the fans,” said Klahn.
10. Deep into the third set of her semifinal win over Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters lofts a backhand lob up into the swirling Ashe Stadium winds. The ball sails over an outstretched Williams’ head and drops just inside the baseline. “It’s instinct when you decide to do that,” said Clijsters.
HONORABLE MENTION: Yaroslava Shvedova‘s picture-perfect offensive lob on match point that clinched the women’s doubles title for the Russian and partner Vania King. Recalled Shvedova, “It was like slow motion. It’s like in the movie. It’s unreal.” Said King, “It was like, ‘Okay. Hit a winner, please hit a winner, please hit a winner, please hit a winner, please miss, please miss.’ Then she hit the lob, and I was like, ‘Go in, go in, go in, go in.'”
