At long last the caravan that rolls around through the year beginning Down Under, traversing the entire the entire world before pitching tent in London signaled a temporary halting of proceedings for 2012. This tennis year was one that could be described in many ways notably historic, phenomenal and perhaps more than any other 'a season of parity'. In a season of split successes amongst the 'Big Four' Novak Djokovic emerged as the first among equals on the ATP Tour while Victoria Azarenka took her place on top of the WTA rankings holding off Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

It was a rare year that included the Olympics, held at London on this occasion and on the hallowed Wimbledon turf to boot, and the tournament was a wonderful addition to the calendar bringing forth a level of emotion dissimilar from those seen at the annual tournaments storied though they may be. Like any year, it had its moments of bitterness and controversy to balance the wonderful storylines and the remarkable achievements over the year. All in all this year was memorable and on that note let's take a dive down memory lane to review the professional tennis year of 2012.

Andy Murray is the new US Open Champion! The Scot answered Britain's 76 year prayer as he won an extraordinary final defeating the defending champion Novak Djokovic in a 4 hr 54 min thriller. Murray won 7/6(10), 7/5, 2/6, 3/6, 6/2 overcoming difficult conditions, an epic tie-break, a rampaging Djokovic comeback and his own nerves to finally claim his maiden Slam triumph. Murray dropped his racquet to the floor and covered his face with his hands as he allowed the moment to sink in on what was the greatest moment of his career. It was a mixture of relief and joy that was writ on Murray's countenance as he held aloft the trophy after faltering at this stage on four previous occasions. Murray credited Lendl for his support and indeed Lendl too won his first slam at Roland Garros in his 5^th final. For Djokovic, it was a case of so near, yet so far as he nearly bounced back from a two set deficit, but for once the Serb finished second best. For Murray, the win capped a magnificent summer that saw him reach the Wimbledon final, win Olympic Gold and ride that momentum all the way to the big prize of winning his first slam in New York. Murray's win meant that four different players had won each of the slams for the first time since 2003.

Serena Williams proved, yet again, why she belongs to the elite category of legends, not because she won an amazing 4th US Open title and an incredible 15th Grand Slam, achievements which by itself are incredible considering the fact  the next active player on the list has less than half as many, but it was her ability to summon her mental toughness to tough out a result when not playing at her absolute best that distinguishes her from everyone else.

And Serena was not only not playing at her absolute best, she was not even close to it as for the entire duration of the 2nd set and a better part of the third as the American powerhouse's groundstrokes could not seem to find the court amassing as many as 34 errors in the last set alone and even her ever-reliable first serve - the single greatest weapon in women's tennis, was misfiring, as her first serve percentage could not seem to touch even the 50% mark in the final two sets. Nevertheless, Serena's ability to elevate her game when push came to shove was never more on display, battling past an inspired Victoria Azarenka in 2 hours and 18 minutes as she conquered the demons of US Open past, to become the undisputed queen of Arthur Ashe stadium in three sets of nerve-wracking tennis, winning 62 26 75.

Filip Peliwo won his second Grand Slam singles title of the season on Sunday at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.

The 18-year-old Canadian completed his junior career with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Liam Broady of Great Britain to give him a second junior Major singles crown in 2012 after making Canadian tennis history along with Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon this summer. The win is Peliwo's first over Broady in three tries. On Saturday, he became the first player since Mark Kratzmann of Australia in 1984 to reach all four junior Grand Slam junior boys' singles finals in the same year at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. By capturing the title in Flushing Meadows, Peliwo also becomes the first boy since Grigor Dimitrov in 2008 to win the Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior singles titles in the same year.

Novak Djokovic booked his place in his 3^rd US Open final as he overcame a dogged challenge from David Ferrer 2/6, 6/1, 6/4, 6/2. When the pair had met earlier this year at the Australian Open, Ferrer had acknowledged that the top four in the world were “at a different level”. That statement certainly held true today as Djokovic stepped up to a different level whenever required as he kept alive his 27 match win streak in hardcourt slams. The Serb looked distinctly out of sorts yesterday, which contributed heavily to him dropping the first set; Today though he was too good for the feisty Spaniard, as he made his 3^rd slam final of the year. Ferrer to his credit, never flagged against the World No.2, trading blows and running the hard yards; but his lack of outright firepower limited his chances and his challenge eventually faded. Djokovic will now play Andy Murray in what promises to be a blockbuster finale on the morrow.

Filip Peliwo etched his named in the tennis history books on Saturday following his 6-4, 6-0 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.

The win gave Peliwo a berth in his fourth junior Grand Slam boys' singles final of the season where he will play Liam Broady of Great Britain on Sunday. The 18-year-old Canadian becomes the first player since Stefan Edberg in 1983 to reach all four junior Major singles finals in the same year at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and now the U.S. Open. Peliwo won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July, making Canadian tennis history along with Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC) who swept the girls' singles and doubles titles at the All-England Club.

In an encounter where an almost evenly matched skill set of both players is supplemented by even more evenly matched vocal chords, the world no.1 and the reigning Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka had the last scream as she battled past the 3rd seed and the reigning French Open champion Maria Sharapova in a 3-set thriller to book her spot in the Final of the 2012 US Open. The second semi-final failed to live up to the quality of the first as Serena Williams thumped a hapless Sara Errani for the loss of just three games to advance to her 6th Final here at Flushing Meadows.

With Azarenka winning the last 4 of their outdoor hardcourt matches in straight sets, another straight set blowout in favor of the Belarusian would not have been a surprise given her superlative form throughout the tournament. However, Sharpaova had other plans, as she started taking the game to the top seed, right from the outset, with her powerful groundstrokes and venomous serve to run away with the first set. Nevertheless, Azarenka righted the ship in the second and an ever small lapse in concentration from Sharapova was sufficient to level the scores at one set apiece. Finally, the topsy-turvy affair started transforming into an exhilarating contest as both players started hitting the peak in the all-important decider. However, Azarenka's returns and consistency proved to be the thin line of difference between the two as the Belarusian broke at 5-4 while Sharapova was serving to stay in the match, to book a place in Saturday's showpiece. The final score was 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Azarenka's favor.