Aces & Faults: Top moments of the last decade



Top Aces of the Decade.

From the humorous to the heartwarming to the head-scratching, it's time to shout out a decade’s worth of highs and lows. Starting with the highs, here are the Top 10 aces of the decade.

1

2010: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to reach a major final, but she didn’t stop there. The Italian knocked off Samantha Stosur to be crowned the 2010 French Open champion. Recently Schiavone has been fighting a bigger battle, against cancer, and just three days ago announced she has beaten it.

PARIS - JUNE 05:  Francesca Schiavone of Italy celebrates with the trophy after winning the women's singles final match between Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Samantha Stosur of Australia on day fourteen of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 5, 2010 in Paris, France.  (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
© 2010 Getty Images

(All photos: Getty Images)

2

2011: After falling short of her first Grand Slam title in Australia earlier in the year, Li Na was determined not to let it happen again. At the 2011 French Open she defeated defending champion Schiavone to become the first Chinese player to win a major title. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

2019 Hall of Fame Ceremony: Li Na Speech

3

2012: Virginie Razzano shocked the world in 2012 when she slipped past Serena Williams in a tight French Open first-round. The three-set victory for the Italian gave Williams her only Grand Slam opening loss in her career so far.

France's Virginie Razzano shakes hands with US Serena Williams (L) after winning their Women's Singles 1st Round tennis match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 29, 2012 in Paris.     AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD        (Photo credit should read KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/GettyImages)
© 2012 AFP

4

2013: Boasting 48 Grand Slam titles and a 470-match winning streak. Esther Vergeer retired from the sport in February 2013. The Dutch wheelchair player was the greatest of all-time, losing only 25 times in her entire professional career.

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 07:  Esther Vergeer of Netherlands with her gold medal after defeating Aniek Van Koot of Netherlands in the final of the Women's singles match in the Wheelchair Tennis on day 9 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Eton Manor on September 7, 2012 in London, England.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
© 2012 Getty Images

5

2014: CiCi Bellis lit up the world after upsetting No. 12 seed Dominika Cibulkova in her WTA debut at the US Open. At 15, she became the youngest woman to win a match at the US Open in nearly 20 years. Bellis’ match was not supposed to be televised but the cameras all turned to her court to watch the world No. 1,208 make history.

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 26:  Catherine Bellis of the United States celebrates after defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during their women's singles first round match on Day Two of the 2014 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 26, 2014  in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.  (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
© 2014 Getty Images

6

2015: Most wedding days are busy and hectic, but for Arina Rodionova it was even busier. The Russian-born Australian played a semifinal Australian Open wildcard match against Storm Sanders the same day as her wedding. Rodionova won the match in the morning and later that day married Ty Vickery.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 20:  Tyrone Vickery, AFL footballer from the Richmond Tigers and husband of Arina Rodionova kisses Arina Rodionova of Victoria after she lost her Women's Australian Open 2016 Singles Play-off final between Arina Rodionova of Victoria and Maddison Inglis of Western Australia during the 2016 Australian Open play off series at Melbourne Park on December 20, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
© 2015 Getty Images

7

2016: Overwhelmed by debt Marcus Willis took a part-time job at a tennis club, but was urged on by his then-girlfriend to get back to pro tennis. After winning six matches, Willis reached the Wimbledon main draw and defeated Ricardas Berankis in his first Grand Slam match. He would then lose to Roger Federer on Centre Court.

8

2017: Two of the biggest rivals in the sport’s history, Federer and Rafael Nadal joined forces, playing in their first doubles match together during the inaugural 2017 Laver Cup. The pair defeated Sam Querrey and Jack Sock in a match tiebreak to help Team Europe win.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - SEPTEMBER 23:  Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal of Team Europe celebrate winning match point during there doubles match against Jack Sock and Sam Querrey of Team World on Day 2 of the Laver Cup on September 23, 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic. The Laver Cup consists of six European players competing against their counterparts from the rest of the World. Europe will be captained by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will captain the Rest of the World team. The event runs from 22-24 September.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)
© 2017 Getty Images

9

2018: Marco Trungelliti traveled back to Barcelona after falling in the French Open qualifying last year. But something unexpected happened, the Spaniard received a lucky loser spot in the Roland Garros first round. Twenty-four hours later Trungelliti made his way back to Paris, captured his opening round, and received a $115,000 pay day.

10

2019: Fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff fell to defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round of the US Open. But no one was talking about the match, instead it was what happened after it that got everyone’s attention.

That's it for this decade, we'll see you in the next one.