The 5 most memorable moments of 2014
With less than a month until the start of the Australian Open, the 2015 tennis season will be in full swing before we know it.
Lest we hurtle forward without first taking stock of the remarkable campaign we just witnessed, here's a rundown of the five most memorable moments from 2014.
5. Serena's bizarre Wimbledon episode
In the season's ultimate WTF moment, Serena Williams - just three days after being ousted from the Wimbledon singles draw in the third round - showed up to her second-round doubles match with sister Venus in ... less than top form.
Serena stumbled around the court in a mystifying stupor, seemingly unable to hit a serve or, at certain points, even bounce a ball.
The match was called after three games, and Serena was diagnosed with a "viral illness."
But questions loomed in the aftermath, with many wondering aloud what was really up with Serena that day - suspicions an Instagram photo of her sleeping it off did little to quell.
4. Robredo gives Murray the two-bird salute
By the time Andy Murray beat Tommy Robredo 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (8) to win the Valencia Open title, he'd fought off 10 consecutive match points from the 32-year-old Spaniard. He saved five before toppling Robredo in the Shenzhen Open final less than a month earlier, and another five in Valencia.
For Murray, these were much-needed triumphs in perhaps his most trying professional season. For Robredo, well, the losses obviously stung.
When the two players met at the net, moments before they collapsed into each other's arms, Robredo looked up at his vanquisher and, in a gesture pitched perfectly between disgust and admiration, flipped him two middle fingers.
As Murray's mom, Judy, said afterwards: "Sportsmanship at its best."
3. Federer and Djokovic go the distance in Wimbledon final
Roger Federer's first Grand Slam final in two years didn't disappoint. It was a grueling four-hour, five-set thriller against longtime foe Novak Djokovic in which momentum hurled itself back and forth.
Federer, attacking the net as aggressively as he ever has, stole the first set in a pressure-cooker tiebreaker. Djokovic adapted, took the next two, and looked to be cruising to the title in the fourth. But Federer stormed back from 5-2 down, breaking Djokovic twice in a row, staving off a match point (aided by a crucial successful challenge) in the process, and forcing a deciding fifth.
Much of the chatter ahead of the match focused on whether this was Federer's last best chance at Slam No. 18. Even when Djokovic rebounded to close out the match in five, Federer had sent a message that none need worry - he wasn't done competing for majors.
Still, Federer couldn't keep it all the way together. During the trophy ceremony, a single tear rolled majestically down his cheek.
2. Li calls it quits
Li Na, the most accomplished Asian-born player in history, sent shock waves through the tennis community in September when she announced her decision to hang up her sneakers at the age of 32.
Li battled knee injuries her entire career, and was coming off a fourth surgery. But the timing of her retirement - just months after winning her second career Grand Slam at the Australian Open and climbing to a career-best No. 2 ranking - made it a shock.
Perhaps most unfortunate about the timing was that the tour was just about to embark on its swing through Asia, where Li had done so much to help grow the game. The swing included an inaugural tournament in Wuhan, China - Li's hometown.
"Winning a Grand Slam title this year and achieving a ranking of World No. 2 is the way I would like to leave competitive tennis," she wrote in a Facebook letter to her fans. "As hard as it’s been to come to this decision, I am at peace with it. I have no regrets."
1. Marin and Kei have their day
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were poised to reprise their epic Wimbledon final from two months earlier at the 2014 US Open. That's what everyone said before the tournament began, and it was still the overwhelming consensus on the morning of Sept. 6, with the semifinals set to pit Djokovic against Kei Nishikori and Federer against Marin Cilic.
Cilic had never beaten Federer. Nishikori, on top of having spent close to nine hours on court in his previous two matches, had beaten Djokovic but once. The Wimbledon rematch was preordained, the semis a mere formality.
Instead, Nishikori outlasted Djokovic and Cilic obliterated Federer, setting up the first Grand Slam final without one of Djokovic, Federer or Rafael Nadal in almost a decade, ending a run of 38 majors.
For all the talk of the decline of the Big Four, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal had still accounted for five of the six Slam finals appearances on the year.
But on the defining day of the 2014 season, Nishikori and Cilic took Flushing Meadows by storm. Capping off a year of polar shifts in the sport, they finished what Stan Wawrinka started in Australia in January, ushering in a new era of parity in men's tennis.