US Open 2016: Winners and Losers from the Flushing Meadows

Stan Wawrinka is a three-time Grand Slam champion. Angelique Kerber is the new No. 1 on the WTA Tour and Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, the most dominant players in the past three years, left Flushing Meadows battered and defeated. 

Those are just a few of the winners and losers from the 2016 U.S. Open. 

Wawrinka's win capped a tournament that included Djokovic's inexplicably easy path to the final and Rafael Nadal's stunning upset. 

Some tournament low points included startling gong-like sounds that disrupted play and Gael Monfils failing miserably in an attempt to throw Djokovic off.

It was a weird one, folks. 

So who were the winners and losers? Despite his odd antics, Monfils failed to make the losers list. He was 0-12 against Djokovic going into the match. Before long he found himself down 0-5 in the first set. At that point, he'd run out of options. Of course in typical Monfils fashion, he did the unpredictable. 

His bizarre plan B was perplexing, but not in this biggest losers category. The losers on this list serve as the flip side to designated winners. For instance, Kerber is the ultimate winner, grabbing the No. 1 ranking and a second Slam title in one week. On the flip side, Williams would have to register as a loser, missing out on a chance to surpass Steffi Graf on two all-time records.

Just because players lost their last match, doesn't mean they fall on the losers list. Karolina Pliskova trounced 18-year-old Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. But the unseeded Konjuh upset No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska. Konjuh moves up 40 spots to a career-high No. 52. She probably left Flushing Meadows feeling like a winner. 

So where would that leave Pliskova or Djokovic? Are they winners or losers? The following are the biggest winners and losers from the 2016 U.S. Open.

Loser: Serena Williams

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Serena Williams during her semifinals loss at the U.S. Open.

For the second straight year, Williams' run at the U.S. Open ends in the semifinals. This time, she lost the No. 1 ranking too.  

According to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams has been suffering with a serious knee injury. "It's impossible to compete without moving. That's why she missed so much, so many unforced errors, was because she was so slow," he told the Associated Press (via Tennis.com). 

There's been no word from Williams' camp about whether she plans to play the rest of the season or rest for 2017.

Winner: Angelique Kerber

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Angelique Kerber holds the new World No. 1 Trophy in Flushing Meadows.

Last year, the WTA Tour came up with a new trophy for those ascending to the No. 1 ranking for the first time. Kerber is the first player to win the World No. 1 Trophy—the one trophy Williams will never take home. 

Kerber also leads the Road to Singapore points race and will finish the season with more Grand Slam titles than any other player. 

At 28, she's the oldest player to debut at No. 1, and she replaces the oldest woman to ever hold down the top spot.

Loser: Andy Murray

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Andy Murray smashes his racket into the net after losing a game in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Losing to a red-hot Kei Nishikori didn't land Andy Murray on the loser list. It was the way he lost. Murray was firmly in control of the match until he allowed distractions to take him off his game. 

First, there was a clanging gong-like sound that disrupted play. Then a butterfly decided to join Murray on the court. Annoyed, Murray swatted it away. Then he had terse exchanges with the chair umpire.

Yes, Nishikori raised his level of play. However, Murray's meltdown allowed Nishikori back in the game. Murray was up two sets to one before he started unraveling. He lost 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Winner: Karolina Pliskova

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Karolina Pliskova

Pliskova reached her first Grand Slam final, and after a shaky start, she was able to turn in a championship-worthy performance. 

She defeated Venus and Serena Williams in the same tournament. Her big serve and lightning-quick groundstrokes make her a player to watch. She defeated Kerber in Cincinnati last month and pushed the new No. 1 to three sets at the U.S. Open. The tattoo-wearing 24-year-old moves up to a career-high No. 6 on Monday.

Losers: ATP Retirees

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Mikhail Youzhny receives medical attention during a match at the 2016 U.S. Open.

Djokovic reached the U.S. Open semifinals having played fewer than 10 hours of tennis. He got a walkover in the second round. Mikhail Youzhny retired in the third round, and then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired early in the quarterfinals. 

Nick Kyrgios retired in the third, and Dominic Thiem retired in his fourth-round match against Juan Martin Del Potro.

For all the moaning some of the ATP players do about equal pay and women not playing best of five, these guys had a poor showing. 

Meanwhile, WTA players were out there all banged up and played on. Come on ATP, it's time to toughen up.

Winners: WTA Warriors

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Anastasija Sevastova sits during the changeover as her ankle is wrapped following an injury she suffered during her 2016 U.S. Open quarterfinal match.

Johanna Konta collapsed during her second-round match. But did she retire? No. She got up and won the match. 

During her quarterfinal match against Carolina Wozniacki, Anastasija Sevastova twisted her ankle. During a changeover you could see her ankle swelling. She got a medical timeout, and a trainer wrapped her ankle. She was clearly in pain and near tears. But she played through to the end. 

These WTA warriors soldiered on.

Winners: Olympians

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Juan Martin Del Potro serves during a 2016 U.S. Open match.

Prior to the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro several top tennis players announced they would not be attending. Their reasons ranged from injury, lack of points to fear of contracting the Zika Virus. Many wondered if the tournament would come back to haunt those who participated.

Well, Olympians Kerber, Djokovic, Williams, Venus Williams, Petra Kvitova, Murray, Monfils, Wozniakci and Kei Nishikori faired quite well at the U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, Belinda Bencic, Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic, John Isner, Milos Raonic, among those who chose to skip Rio, crashed out earlier than expected. 

Notable exceptions include Pliskova, who missed Rio, and Ana Ivanovic, who played. Still, with no players reporting any Zika symptoms, it seems all the fear was much to do about nothing.

Losers: Australians

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Bernard Tomic hits a backhand during the 2016 U.S. Open.

Speaking of the Olympics, Australia's top two ranked men's players, Tomic and Kyrgios, skipped Rio. The entire Australian contingency might as well have skipped New York too. 

Damir Dzumhur defeated Tomic in the first round. John Millman, who reached the third round at Wimbledon and the Aussie Open, also lost in the first round. James Duckworth fell to Tsonga in the second round. That was expected.

But the big surprise was Kyrgios being forced to retire in the third round. 

On the women's side, No. 16 Samantha Stosur fell to doubles specialist Shuai Zhang in the second round. Up and coming Daria Gavrilova, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, also lost in the first round.

It was a down year for the folks down under.

Winner: Stan Wawrinka

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Stan Wawrinka celebrates his 2016 U.S. Open win.

Wawrinka powered his way through Djokovic to win a third Grand Slam title. His victory was so emphatic. After a shaky start, he just started going for his shots and putting Djokovic on the defensive. 

Now there's talk about putting Wawrinka in a newly formed Big Five. On Sunday, he was the best player on the court, moving No. 1 Djokovic around at will. Every time Djokovic tried to climb back into the match, Wawrinka beat him back down.

Who knows how many more Slams Wawrinka has in him. But after Sunday, he's a future Hall of Famer.