Over the past fortnight (plus one day) a year’s worth of storylines were discarded. The men’s tour, we were told, was dominated by one record-breaking genius; the women’s by two unbeatable sisters. The only doubt was about which Williams sister would join Roger Federer in the winner’s circle. The coronations were slightly premature. Here are the highlights from 15 days of giant-killing at the US Open.

1. At the start of the tournament a tall, gangly youngster was identified as Federer’s biggest obstacle to a sixth straight championship. And so it proved when the 20-year-old Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro simply outplayed Federer in a five-set marathon. Shame for the pundits that they had placed their bets on 22-year-old Scot Andy Murray.

2. If the men’s final was about a changing of the guard, the women looked to the past. Two years after retiring from the game, now with a baby in tow, Kim Clijsters lifted her second US Open championship. Seemingly content and devoid of the nerves that plagued her first stint in tennis, Kim Clijsters joins Serena and Venus Williams as the true stars of the women’s game. Now if Justine Henin just takes back her retirement it will be 2003 all over again.

3. The biggest story of the week was undoubtedly Serena Williams’ outburst in the semifinal against Kim Clijsters. Telling the linesman that she would shove a ball down her throat, a line that was accompanied by multiple F-bombs, is simply the most extreme example of Serena’s martyr complex. Serena, in her view, never loses because the opponent was better than her. This time she got a linesman to use as a scapegoat.

4. But we should not let the linesman off the hook. Her foot-fault adjudication was shockingly inept. And the poor umpiring continued in the men’s final. Del Potro was able to wrongly convince the chair umpire that Federer had only served an ace because he had been distracted by an object flying on to the court. Then, in the crucial fourth-set tie breaker, Federer threw a tantrum and was allowed to challenge a serve long after he should have been allowed too. After Hawk Eye showed that the serve was long, Del Potro threw a fit. The flustered umpire, already having made a wrong decision, decided to ignore the technology and the rules to replay the point. Many had feared that Hawk Eye would render officials as nothing more than glorified spectators. Consider this the revenge of the umpires on the challenge system, but only in the sense that invading Iraq was Bush’s revenge on Al-Qaeda.

5. Need proof that no single country dominates tennis any longer? Not a single American player reached the fourth round of the men’s singles and there were no Russians in the quarter finals of the women’s. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War is finally over.

6. Dinara Safina will remain number one in the world despite showing, for the fourth time this year, that she is not a big-match player. She struggled in all her matches, as her coach rolled his eyes at each unforced error and double fault. As long as Safina is the top-ranked player, no one will take the rankings seriously.

7. Safina’s brother Marat Safin bowed out of the game with a typically infuriating first-round loss, So much talent and all he has to show for it are two grand slam victories, a hundred smashed rackets and dozens of rules violations. Despite the squandered talent, he should be remembered as the most colourful player of his generation.

8. Are Rafael Nadal’s best days behind him? No human body can endure the abuse Rafa inflicts on himself in a game, hitting with power few possess and chasing unreachable balls. But a semi-final showing is nothing to be ashamed of, and despite a new abdominal injury, Rafa has too much passion to ever be counted out.

9. In 2007, Noval Djokovic’s impersonations of Maria Sharapova, Rafa and others had made him the darling of Flushing Meadows. Last year, he squandered all that good will by making some intemperate remarks about US hero Andy Roddick. In a calculated attempt to get the crowd on his side, Djokovic did a John McEnroe impersonation, a task so simple that it is to tennis impersonations what knock-knock jokes are to humour. The New York crowd may be fickle, but it is by no means discerning.

10. If you remember only one thing from the US Open it should be Federer’s ‘tweener’ against Djokovic in the semis. Ten years from now, when someone refers to ‘that shot’, this is what they will be talking about: