Looking forward to the U.S. Open: Two controversial matches to remember at Flushing Meadows

The US Open has seen some of the most controversial matches in the history of tennis. A noisy crowd, temperamental chair umpires, the heat and humidity of New York, and players who at this stage of the season arrive quite tired have been the ingredients of a cocktail that, as we will see below, has often been explosive.

In the 2018 US Open final, Serena Williams was penalized for unsportsmanlike behavior during the match against Japan's Naomi Osaka. Williams argued with the umpire, repeatedly. The situation escalated until she was given a penalty that directly affected the outcome of the match, with Osaka winning her first Grand Slam title 6-2, 6-4, in an atmosphere where the tension was total.

Serena would receive her first warning after communicating with her coach, something that was not taken in a good way by the youngest of the Williams sisters. With the match progressing and facing an adverse result, Serena broke her racquet, which earned her a penalty point. Finally, after calling the umpire a "thief", she received a one-game penalty, taking her frustration to the highest level and leading to a heated exchange with Carlos Ramos, in which she accused the umpire of sexism, suggesting that he had never penalized a man in the same way.

The one who took it from the top was poor Osaka, victim of the continuous booing from the American public when she received the trophy, amid tears that reflected a sadness that she remembers to this day.

At the 2020 US Open, Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament after accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball during his match against Pablo Carreño.

The Serb and the Spaniard met in the round of 16 of the tournament, and with the match 6-5 in favor of Carreño Busta in a disputed first set, things got out of control in an unbelievable way. Novak had missed several chances to break Carreño's serve, which visibly frustrated him, to the point of hitting a ball that ended up hitting a line judge;

Concerned, Djokovic rushed over to assist the woman and offer his apologies. However, the damage was done, and the match supervisor together with the chair umpire made the decision to disqualify him, as the rules state.

The incident was historic, as Djokovic was coming into the tournament as world No. 1, riding an impressive winning streak in the sadly remembered year of the pandemic, and seeking what could well have been his eighteenth Grand Slam title. No prize money and no points for Nole in that edition of the last major of the season.