Juan Martín del Potro defeated five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final, 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2009 US Open. It was his first (and only) major title. He became the first Argentine man to win the title since Guillermo Vilas in 1977. This was also the first US Open final since 1999 to go to five sets.
Federer was attempting to become the first man to win six consecutive US Open titles in the Open Era, and the first since Bill Tilden in 1925. He was also vying to become the first man to win the Surface Slam (winning majors on clay, grass and hard court in the same calendar year), having won the preceding French Open and Wimbledon. It was the only major not won by the Big Three (Novak Djokovic, Federer, and Rafael Nadal) between the 2005 Australian Open and the 2012 US Open, a span of 30 events.[1] This was the only major where the Big Three all reached the semifinals, but none of them won the championship.
This was the first major since the 2006 Australian Open not to have Federer and Nadal as the top two seeds. Andy Murray was seeded second ahead of Nadal, having become the world No. 2 shortly before the tournament.[2] Nadal reclaimed the world No. 2 ranking after Murray lost to Marin Čilić in the fourth round.[3]
This tournament marked the final major appearance of two-time major champion and world No. 1 Marat Safin.
For the first time in US Open history, no Americans reached the quarterfinals.