Querrey into fourth round; Nadal, Venus, Clijsters win
2010-09-05 02:49:58
NEW YORK (AP)—Sam Querrey wants to put the “U.S.” back in the U.S. Open. It’s been seven years since a man from the United States won the country’s most important tennis tournament. Indeed, it’s been that long since an American man won any Grand Slam singles title. Querrey is all-too-aware of such statistics—and the chatter about such droughts. Cheered on by a boisterous, partisan crowd, the 20th-seeded Querrey beat 14th-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 Sunday to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the second time in three years. “The average sports fan watches the Grand Slams, and they watch on Saturday and Sunday and the semis and the finals,” said the 22-year-old Querrey, the youngest man left in the field. “That’s what we need to do. We need to get some guys there.” At the 2009 U.S. Open, zero U.S. men reached the quarterfinals for the first time in the history of an event that began in 1881. Querrey never has been to the quarterfinals at a major tournament, nor has his next opponent, No. 25-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. Wawrinka upset No. 4 Andy Murray of Britain 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in the only significant surprise on a day that saw No. 1 Rafael Nadal and four other Spaniards advance: No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, No. 10 David Ferrer, No. 23 Feliciano Lopez, and unseeded Tommy Robredo. “Probably the most difficult tournament for us, no?” Nadal said after beating Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. “So that is very important news for Spanish tennis.” Murray alone bears the burden of Britain’s hopes for its first male Grand Slam champion since 1936. He was a popular pick to go far at Flushing Meadows; he was the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Open and at this year’s Australian Open, also on hard courts. “I have no idea whether I’ll win a Grand Slam or not. I want to. But if I never win one, then what? If I give 100 percent, try my best, physically work as hard as I can, practice as much as I can, then that’s all I can do,” said the 23-year-old Murray, who was treated by a trainer for leg and elbow issues. “It’s something I would love to do. It’s a very difficult thing. I don’t know if I’ll win a Grand Slam or not. But I’ll give it my best shot.” He served poorly against Wawrinka, putting only half of his first serves in and getting broken eight times. Now Wawrinka will attempt to solve the serve of Querrey, who hit 19 aces at up to 137 mph and never was broken by Almagro. “He’s very dangerous on this surface,” Almagro said. “He’s in top form right now.” Another American, No. 19 Mardy Fish, won Saturday to earn a spot in the fourth round, where he will take on No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia. And a third, No. 18 John Isner, hoped to join Querrey and Fish in the final 16; Isner was to face No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia on Sunday night in the last men’s third-round match in Querrey’s section of the draw. “We’ve jokingly talked about meeting in the quarters,” Querrey said, looking ahead. “That would be ideal.” Depending on how the rest of this tournament goes, Isner, Querrey and Fish could join Andy Roddick—the American who won the 2003 U.S. Open—inside the top 20 in the rankings; there haven’t been four U.S. men that high in four years. On the other hand, when Roddick briefly dropped to 11th in August, it was the first time since the rankings began in 1973 that there were no U.S. men in the top 10. That alone was enough to cue a new chorus of questions about the state of the game in a nation that produced Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. “I mean, you always hear that,” said Querrey, who grew up in California but now lives in Las Vegas. “It’s kind of like any sport. You’ve got waves where you’ll have a group of Americans in the top 10; you might have a couple years where we don’t. It’s like with the Lakers: They’ll win some championships, and (then) they won’t make the playoffs. It’s just like that.” With Sunday’s five Spaniards joining No. 21 Albert Montanes, who won Saturday, that country has six members of the last 16—tying the record for a country other than the United States at the U.S. Open. “It’s always nice to see all the Spanish winning and being in the last rounds, no?” said Verdasco, who eliminated 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ferrer beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2; the opponents of Robredo and Lopez retired during their matches. The winners of Nadal vs. Lopez, and Ferrer vs. Verdasco will meet for a semifinal spot. “I don’t really care whom I’m playing against,” Nadal said, “if they’re all Spaniards.” There is only one American woman left, and it’s seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, who struggled with her serve and kept yanking at the hemline of her red, sequin-dotted dress but eventually solved 16th-seeded Shahar Peer 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals in New York for the 10th time. Williams put 48 percent of her first serves in, and was broken three times. She wasted her first six set points in the opening tiebreaker. And yet she improved to 6-0 against Peer. Williams next faces reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, a 6-3, 6-0 winner against 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Williams was the last woman to win the U.S. Open two years in a row, in 2000 and 2001, and defending champion Kim Clijsters is trying to match that feat. Clijsters easily got past former No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-1 Sunday. “The pressure is a privilege. It’s something that comes because you’ve done well in the past, and I look at it in that way,” said Clijsters, who will play No. 5 Sam Stosur or No. 12 Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. “I know how hard it is to try and win those seven matches and how much you have to be focused and work, especially on the details.” She won seven consecutive games in one stretch to seize control, and her deep groundstrokes and usually strong defense put pressure on Ivanovic, who made 28 unforced errors. “I was on the big stage again,” said Ivanovic, whose ranking dropped to 65th in July but now is back up to 40th. “Lots of emotions came back, and I just felt a little slow and just a little bit out of it.”

Venus beats Peer to reach U.S. Open quarterfinals
2010-09-05 02:34:12
NEW YORK (AP)—Venus Williams struggled with her serve. She kept tugging at her dress. Every bit as big a nuisance was her opponent, Shahar Peer. On a Sunday afternoon in which No. 2 Kim Clijsters cruised to her victory at the U.S. Open, third-seeded Williams never looked quite comfortable in hers. She defeated 16th-seeded Shahar Peer 7-6 (3), 6-3 on the second straight windy day in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams got only 48 percent of her first serves in. She faced six break points and lost three. She squandered five chances to wrap up the first set in a 22-point 12th game. As for the dress—a red “daytime” version of the black, sequined number she wore two nights previously—well, she spent much of the match tugging at it to keep it at barely high-thigh level. “No,” she said when asked if the dress bothered her. “The only thing that bothered me was when I didn’t win the point, I think. That was it.” After the Williams match, No. 1 Rafael Nadal took the court and experienced no such trouble. He faced only one break point—and saved it, in the final game — in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon. Nadal has gone 46-for-46 in service games through his first three U.S. Open matches. In the fourth round, Nadal will play No. 23 Feliciano Lopez, who won when Sergiy Stakovshy retired with a toe injury. No. 10 Gil Ferrer and No. 8 Fernando Verdasco also advanced—meaning all four players left in Nadal’s section of the draw are Spaniards. Williams’ next match is a quarterfinal against No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, who had few problems in a 6-3, 6-0 win over 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Williams will likely need to play better to get past Schiavone after a match in which the two-time champion looked more like someone who was trying to find her form—which she is after missing most of August with an injured left kneecap—than someone breezing her way through the draw. “We always have had very competitive matches, so I know it’s not going to be something I just walk through when I play against her,” Williams said of the matchup against Peer. “I have to stay focused and ready to take every point or else she will. It was a good challenge.” Serving intelligently and handling Williams’ power, Peer was surprisingly game, even though she fell to 0-6 lifetime in the matchup and has yet to win a set. Trailing 6-5 and serving to stay in the first set, Peer staved off five set points before finally winning a game that took more than 12 minutes. But Williams overpowered her in the tiebreaker to wrap up a first set that took 1 hour, 8 minutes. “It’s not new that I’m trying to win and fighting for every ball and hanging in there every point,” Peer said. “But I do think it can give me more for the future, because every time I played Venus I had tough time and she was always kind of killing me every match.” While Williams is the only American woman left in the draw, the men have a number of options. No. 20 Sam Querrey pulled off a mild third-round upset, defeating No. 14 Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. No. 18 John Isner had a match later Sunday against 12th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny. And No. 19 Mardy Fish plays his fourth-round match Monday against No. 3 Novak Djokovic. “Hopefully we can have someone win a Grand Slam,” Querrey said. “That’s what we need. John and Mardy and myself, the three guys left, we’re trying our best.” Back on the women’s side, Clijsters put a quick end to Ana Ivanovic’s nice run at Flushing Meadows, winning her 18th straight U.S. Open match with a 6-2, 6-1 wipeout of the former world No. 1. Ivanovic, who fell to as low as No. 65 after a couple of injury-plagued years, has gotten back to No. 40 and was trying to move higher. She won three matches at the U.S. Open and was getting her biggest test—and opportunity— against the defending champion. It wasn’t much of a contest. After regaining an early break to pull within 3-2 in the first, Ivanovic got overpowered, losing seven straight games to turn the match into a rout. Clijsters, moving as well as anyone in the tournament, used heavy, deep groundstrokes to pressure Ivanovic into 28 unforced errors. Looking like the more comfortable player, Clijsters fought through the wind and took command. “She’s playing with a lot more confidence,” Clijsters said, in describing her mindset. “I can stay with her in the beginning of those first few games where she was playing really good tennis, if I could just stay with her and kind of just, make her doubt once in a while.” Trailing 4-1 in the second set, Ivanovic served a game that went seven deuces, but double-faulted to end the game. Eight points later, the match was over. It lasted 59 minutes. Ivanovic said she was nervous through much of it. “I was on the big stage again,” she said. “Lots of emotions came back and I just felt a little slow and just a little bit out of it.” Clijsters next faces the winner of a match scheduled for Sunday night between No. 5 Sam Stosur and No. 12 Elena Dementieva.

Verdasco defeats Nalbandian in third round of Open
2010-09-05 02:32:05
NEW YORK (AP)—Eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat 31st-seeded David Nalbandian 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the U.S. Open. Verdasco is through to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the third time this year. The Spaniard faced just one break point on his serve in the three sets he won. Argentina’s Nalbandian was playing in his first Grand Slam tournament since the 2009 Australian Open because of a series of injuries.

Schiavone tops Pavlyuchenkova to reach quarters
2010-09-05 00:32:20
NEW YORK (AP)—French Open champion Francesca Schiavone won in straight sets for the fourth consecutive match, beating 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday to advance to the U.S. Open quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Italian won 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2003. Pavlyuchenkova, who needed medical attention on her right arm, was in the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time. The 19-year-old Russian had four double-faults and 29 unforced errors. The right-handed Pavlyuchenkova said her shoulder started to hurt in Cincinnati last month, where she lost to Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. She skipped New Haven, confident the rest would have her ready for the U.S. Open. But the arm had been bothering her the whole tournament, and it took a turn for the worse Saturday. Pavlyuchenkova said the pain had spread to her elbow. She hopes it will heal with rest.

Clijsters beats Ivanovic in 59 minutes in fourth round
2010-09-05 00:08:10
NEW YORK (AP)—Kim Clijsters put a quick end to Ana Ivanovic’s run at the U.S. Open, winning her 18th straight match at Flushing Meadows with a 6-2, 6-1 wipeout of the former world No. 1 in their fourth-round match Sunday. Ivanovic, who fell to as low as No. 65 after a couple of injury-plagued years, has gotten back to No. 40 and was trying to move higher. She won three matches at the U.S. Open and was getting her biggest test—and opportunity— against the second-seeded defending champion. It wasn’t much of a contest. After regaining an early break to pull within 3-2 in the first, Ivanovic got overpowered, losing seven straight games to turn the match into a rout. Clijsters, moving as well as anyone in the tournament, used heavy, deep groundstrokes to pressure Ivanovic into 28 unforced errors. Looking like the more comfortable player on the showcourt in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Clijsters fought through the wind, which blew hard for the second straight day, and took command. “She’s playing with a lot more confidence,” Clijsters said. “I can stay with her in the beginning of those first few games where she was playing really good tennis, if I could just stay with her and kind of just, make her doubt once in a while.” Trailing 4-1 in the second set, Ivanovic served a game that went seven deuces, but double-faulted to end the game. Eight points later, the match was over. It lasted 59 minutes. Ivanovic said she was nervous through much of it. “I was on the big stage again,” she said. “Lots of emotions came back and I just felt a little slow and just a little bit out of it.” Clijsters next faces the winner of a match scheduled for later Saturday between No. 5 Samantha Stosur and No. 12 Elena Dementieva. The Belgian won the U.S. Open in 2005, then was off the tour for 2 1/2 years while she got married and had a baby. She returned to win it again in 2009 and is still waiting for her first challenge at this year’s tournament. Other than a 7-5 second set in her first-round match, Clijsters has not been tested as she heads into the second week. She has lost a total of 14 games in four matches in what is the first true defense of her U.S. Open title because she missed 2006. “Coming here as a defending champion has been a new experience and something that kind of keeps it fresh,” Clijsters said. “It’s a nice experience. And tennis-wise, as well, I’ve felt that I’ve been improving every match.” Also winning Sunday was No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-0 over 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 10 David Ferrer, who beat fellow Spaniard Danie Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2. Others on the schedule Sunday included No. 3 Venus Williams, who plays No. 16 Shahar Peer; No. 1 Rafael Nadal against Gilles Simon; 18th-seeded American John Isner against Russian Mikhail Youzhny and 20th-seeded American Sam Querrey against No. 14 Nicolas Almagro.

Annacone officially steps down as LTA head coach
2010-09-04 23:46:06
LONDON (AP)—Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association says Paul Annacone has stepped down as its head coach of men’s tennis. Annacone’s contract with the LTA was due to expire in November and he recently joined the coaching team of 16-time grand-slam winner Roger Federer after a successful trial period. There was the possibility of a conflict of interest should Federer meet British No. 1 Andy Murray in the final of the U.S. Open, which is currently taking place in New York. LTA player director Steven Martens said in a statement Sunday that the American coach “was always going to be moving on in November” and that the association continued to review the situation to avoid any conflict of interest. Annacone became LTA head coach in November 2006.

Isner's 33 aces aren't enough in loss to Youzhny
2010-09-04 22:41:19
NEW YORK (AP) John Isner's trip to the U.S. Open ended in the third round, and it included none of the drama or history he created at Wimbledon.The 18th-seeded American, best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, lost to No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5), 6-4 Sunday night.At Wimbledon in June, Isner won a 70-68 fifth set over Nicolas Mahut in the first round, a match that lasted 183 games over 11 hours, 5 minutes. He played a total of 116 games and 8 hours, 12 minutes in New York.The 6-foot-9 Isner lost Sunday despite pounding 33 aces at up to 144 mph. His biggest problem: 61 unforced errors, 25 more than Youzhny, who reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since he was a semifinalist in 2006.

Murray upset by Wawrinka in Open's third round
2010-09-04 19:13:44
NEW YORK (AP)—Any time now, Andy Murray will break through and become Britain’s next Grand Slam champion. Or so the theory goes. The fourth-seeded Murray, expected by many to make a deep run at this year’s U.S. Open, instead made his second straight earlier-than-expected exit from Flushing Meadows—losing to No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday in the third round. Wawrinka rallied from a break down late in the second set for a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 upset—a loss certain to be picked apart by the tennis-loving fans back home. “I have no idea of whether I’ll win a Grand Slam or not,” Murray said. “I want to. But if I never win one, then what? If I give 100 percent, try my best, physically work as hard as I can, practice as much as I can, then that’s all I can do.” Murray is trying to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam tournament since 1936. He was a popular pick this year, based on trips to the finals at Flushing Meadows two years ago and this year’s Australian Open, along with a championship in Montreal last month in which he beat both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Instead, the loss to Wawrinka goes with a fourth-round exit last year when, as the No. 2 seed, he was upset by Marin Cilic. The promise of a deep run this year for Murray slipped away quickly after the second set. The 23-year-old Scot needed the trainer twice after that—once for tightness in his quad, another when he felt tingling in his right elbow. But he didn’t blame the injuries. “He played better than me,” Murray said. “There’s not a whole lot more to it.” It will, however, be sliced and diced back home, where his every success and failure is recorded in exacting detail. In addition to asking about his injury (not an issue, he said), his physical condition (in as good of shape as ever, he said) and his mindset as the match started slipping away (Yeah, you get frustrated in situations like those, but who wouldn’t?), Murray was asked about his unsettled coaching situation. “I want to improve and get better,” Murray said. “I’m obviously going to look for a coach and people that are going to help me to do that. But, I’m happy with the guys that I work with just now. They’re all very, very good at what they do. So I’m not gonna start changing everything. “I’m still looking for a coach. That’s it.” Still looking for his first major title, as well—a gap in the resume that leaves an entire country wondering why. “I think you need to play your best tennis during the tournament, and that’s it,” Murray said. “That’s the only way to win one. There’s a lot of tough players out there just now. If you don’t play well enough, you’re not going to win.”

Nadal bests Simon in straights to reach fourth round
2010-09-04 17:01:22
NEW YORK (AP)—Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of the U.S. Open on Sunday. Nadal has won all his matches in straight sets, but this was the first time he didn't need any tiebreakers. Nadal has not had his serve broken at the Open. He will face fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round. The 42nd-ranked Simon was hoping to catch a flight home to Europe later Sunday to see his son who was born Thursday.

Federer beats Mathieu; discusses Rafa's Slam shot
2010-09-04 04:50:42
NEW YORK (AP)—Roger Federer remembers how it felt when he was trying to complete the career Grand Slam, when every trip to Roland Garros was more than merely big, but a chance to make history. In other words, he remembers what it felt like to go through what his rival, Rafael Nadal, is going through for a second straight year in New York. After Federer’s windblown-but-routine 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu at the U.S. Open on Saturday, attention turned to the bigger picture— Federer, Nadal and their places in tennis history. Federer finally won the French Open in 2009, making him the sixth man to win all four major titles. Before that, he lost in the final at Roland Garros in 2006, ’07 and ’08. Nadal, who has never been to the final at the U.S. Open, won his first Australian Open title in 2009. Now, he needs to win it all at the U.S. Open to cap his career Grand Slam. “I guess it’s somewhat similar,” Federer said. “I won the other three Grand Slams rather quickly, as well, like he did.” Federer needs three more wins to reach his seventh straight U.S. Open final. Nadal has lost in the semifinals in his last two trips to Flushing Meadows. His third-round match this year is set for Sunday against former top-10 player Gilles Simon. Federer owns a record 16 major victories, while Nadal has eight. Nadal is five years younger, so he has time, but in Federer’s opinion, he’ll almost certainly need at least one championship in New York if he’s ever going to be in the conversation about the greatest tennis players ever. “Clearly, he has a chance because he’s young enough,” Federer said. “Obviously, I guess he would need to win the U.S. Open to put himself there. He’s won the Olympics, done some amazing things. So, he’ll have a shot at it, I’m sure.” Nadal, who defeated Denis Istomin in a tense, three-set win that ended late Friday, said it’s way too early for him to think about his place in history—or about the so-called pressure to break through at the U.S. Open. “For me, just to be here and have a chance to win the fourth is just an unbelievable thing,” Nadal said. “When I was younger, seven years before or six years before or three years before, I never really thought I really could do that.”

Monfils beats Tipsarevic in U.S. Open third round
2010-09-04 03:05:37
NEW YORK (AP)—Gael Monfils of France beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 in the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.The 17th-seeded Monfils reached the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows for the third straight year but has never advanced further.The 44th-ranked Tipsarevic upset ninth-seeded Andy Roddick in the second round.Monfils had 17 aces and 56 winners.

Soderling eliminates de Bakker in straight sets
2010-09-04 01:03:45
NEW YORK (AP)—Robin Soderling has advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands. The fifth-seeded Soderling, twice a runner-up at the French Open, needed only 1 hour, 42 minutes at blustery Flushing Meadows on Saturday to defeat the 48th-ranked de Bakker. After struggling through a five-setter in the opening round, the Swede has only dropped 16 games over his next two matches.

Kuznetsova beats Kirilenko to reach fourth round
2010-09-03 23:10:23
NEW YORK (AP)—Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has beaten Maria Kirilenko to move into the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Kuznetsova, who won Grand Slam titles at the 2004 U.S. Open and the French Open last year, won 6-3, 6-4 against her Russian compatriot. She had lost her most recent two matches against Kirilenko, both on clay this season, but was in control throughout Saturday, saving the only two break points she faced and finishing with a 30-12 advantage in winners. Next for Kuznetsova is 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova.

Djokovic defeats Blake in straight sets on Ashe
2010-09-03 21:09:01
NEW YORK (AP)—Novak Djokovic reached the U.S. Open’s fourth round for the fourth consecutive year, eliminating American wild card James Blake in straight sets. The third-seeded Djokovic beat Blake 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in a wind-whipped Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday night. Serbia’s Djokovic made only 13 unforced errors—18 fewer than Blake. “It’s a big mental struggle, when you have such a strong wind, to find a way how to try to play good tennis,” Djokovic said, “especially if you have somebody across the net who is so aggressive, taking everything early and playing a risky game.” In the fourth round, Djokovic will face another American, 19th-seeded Mardy Fish, who edged Arnaud Clement of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 Saturday. After having knee surgery in September 2009, Fish set about changing his diet and trimming his body, and he’s lost more than 30 pounds to get down to about 170. “He’s playing maybe his best tennis at this moment,” Djokovic said. “He’s moving really well. He’s serving as good as he served always. He has a lot of talent. He’s recognizing the moment, coming to the net. He has a lot of variety in the game. I guess I have to be on the top of my game to be able to win.” Djokovic was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2007, and made it to the semifinals in 2008 and 2009—losing to Roger Federer every time. Blake is a two-time quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows, but not since 2006. Once ranked in the top five, the 30-year-old Blake is now 108th after a series of injuries and poor results, and he said he plans to take the next six weeks off. As for his longer-term future in the sport, the 30-year-old Blake said that he aims to play in the 2011 U.S. Open and hopes Saturday night’s match wasn’t his last in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “If it was, you know, I competed my heart out. I did everything I could,” Blake said. “But I think I got more in me, and I think I’m going to be back there. Maybe more night matches, some more excitement for the crowds, some more good times. You know, I definitely believe that. I hope it comes true next year.”

Sharapova and Wozniacki set fourth-round date
2010-09-03 20:00:00
NEW YORK (AP)—Maria Sharapova knows the story all too well: An unknown American kid shows up at the U.S. Open, upsets a seeded player, gains some buzz and belief, then gets a shot at Sharapova in the third round. In 2009, that kid was Melanie Oudin, who beat Sharapova en route to the quarterfinals. In 2010, that kid was Beatrice Capra and, well, let’s just say that Sharapova fared a little better this time around. Overwhelmed by the stage, the circumstances, the 25 mph wind that knocked the neon lime visor off her head during a point, and—most of all—a solid Sharapova, the 18-year-old Capra didn’t win a game, let alone the match. Instead, 2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova set up a fourth-round showdown with No. 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki by blanking the 371st-ranked Capra 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “This was a new day,” said Sharapova, the first woman to win love-and-love at the U.S. Open in the third round or later since Martina Navratilova did it in the 1989 quarterfinals. “And what happened last year—I didn’t really want to go into the match thinking about it.” On her very first serve of the afternoon, Capra nearly sailed the ball all the way to the opposite baseline. That might have been a result of nerves and the ever-swirling wind, which made the U.S. flag above the stadium flap loudly and caused four midpoint stoppages in play when debris rolled onto the court. Plenty of brown, concession-stand napkins and one plastic sandwich bag floated out of the stands; even two white towels made like tumbleweed. “This is probably the toughest conditions we’re going to get,” Sharapova said. Actually, other than whiffing on one serve return, Sharapova handled the conditions rather well; others did not. Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, the 2008 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, shanked one serve straight up in the air off the top of her racket frame and finished with 41 unforced errors in a 6-2, 7-6 (1) loss to No. 31 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. “You get frustrated with the wind,” Jankovic said, “because you want to hit balls in (a) certain direction, and they go everywhere except where you want them to go.” There were no such surprises in men’s action. Five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer reached the fourth round by beating Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic had no trouble getting past American wild card James Blake 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 at night; No. 5 Robin Soderling, twice a French Open finalist, defeated Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; No. 19 Mardy Fish outlasted 32-year-old Arnaud Clement, the oldest man left, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Fish now takes on Djokovic for a berth in the quarterfinals. Also, No. 13 Jurgen Melzer beat 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-1; No. 21 Albert Montanes advanced when qualifier Ken Nishikori quit in the second set with a groin injury, two days after winning a grueling five-setter; and No. 17 Gael Monfils picked up a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over Janko Tipsarevic, who knocked off 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick in the second round. Asked to describe the weather, Monfils said: “Awful. I mean, for me: awful.” Capra, who’s from Ellicott City, Md., and trains at the Evert Academy in Florida, acknowledged struggling with the wind. She also acknowledged feeling jitters, and who could blame her, really? She won a U.S. Tennis Association playoff in August to earn a U.S. Open wild card; not only was this her first Grand Slam tournament—it was her first tour-level, main-draw event, period. She became the lowest-ranked woman since 2002 to reach the U.S. Open’s third round by beating 95th-ranked Karolina Sprem in the first round, then 18th-seeded Aravane Rezai in the second. And now she found herself going up against the 23-year-old Sharapova, someone Capra said she looked up to “when I was younger.” They never had met until Saturday. So what was that like? “Before the match, she would just walk past me and kind of, like, give me a glare, which is kind of intimidating,” Capra said. “After the match, when we shook hands, she was really nice.” Oudin, who knows Capra from her junior days, sent a text message after the victory over Rezai, offering advice. “I should have talked to Melanie before the match, because I was wondering — I was like, ‘Was Melanie this nervous before she played?”’ Capra said. “I didn’t get the chance to, but I probably should have.” Then again, the Capra of 2010 is not exactly the Oudin of 2009, a player who already had risen to 70th in the rankings before the U.S. Open, thanks to a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon that summer. And, to be fair, the Sharapova of 2010 is not exactly the Sharapova of 2009, either. “She doesn’t give you anything,” noted Capra, whose exit leaves Venus Williams as the only U.S. woman in the field. “Even though she’s beating me that badly, she’s still so focused.” A year ago, Sharapova was still figuring things out after having right shoulder surgery in October 2008, still working her way back into match shape after missing the start of the season. Against Oudin, Sharapova double-faulted 21 times, more than any woman had in any tour match all year. Against Capra, Sharapova double-faulted five times, but otherwise was in strong form. “I mean, I could have done better, and, you know, it was close in some of the games,” said Capra, whose parents, sister, grandparents, aunt and two friends were in the stands. “Plus, when you’re, like, losing that bad, it’s just in your head, like, ‘Just please let me win one game.”’ That’s what 2009 U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki’s opponents might have been thinking: She has won 36 of 39 games so far, including Saturday’s 6-1, 6-0 victory over Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan. That followed a 6-0, 6-0 shutout—known in tennis as a “double bagel”—in the second round. Other women advancing Saturday included No. 7 Vera Zvonareva, the runner-up at Wimbledon in July; No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, who beat No. 23 Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4 at night; and No. 15 Yanina Wickmayer, who lost to Wozniacki in the 2009 semifinals in New York. The three games Wozniacki has lost so far this year are the fewest through three completed matches at any Grand Slam tournament since Mary Pierce dropped only two at the 1994 French Open. “I have been feeling good out there,” Wozniacki said, the understatement of the week. “It just says something about how I’ve been playing, and the level I’ve been playing on.”

Fourth-seeded Jankovic falls to Kanepi at Open
2010-09-03 20:00:00
NEW YORK (AP)—Fighting the wind as much as her opponent Saturday, No. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic lost her third-round match at the U.S. Open. While Hurricane Earl didn’t bring much rain to the New York area, the remnants of the storm brought wind gusts of up to 25 mph that were playing havoc with the players—starting with Jankovic, who lost 6-2, 7-6 (1) to No. 31 Kaia Kanepi. “You toss the ball, and it was all over the place,” Jankovic said. “And then you hit the ball one direction, it goes another. You’re just getting ready to hit the ball and it just moves away from you.” All the players were dealing with the same conditions—it’s just that some of them dealt with them better. They included No. 5 Robin Soderling, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Thiemo de Bakker. No. 14 Maria Sharapova won her first set 6-0 against 18-year-old wildcard Beatrice Capra, who was struggling with the wind. No. 21 Albert Montanes of Spain advanced when Kei Nishikori of Japan retired in the second set. Nishikori won a five-set, 5-hour match Thursday over No. 11 Marin Cilic on Thursday but withdrew from Saturday’s match with a groin injury. Others scheduled for Saturday included James Blake, who plays No. 3 Novak Djokovic, and No. 2 Roger Federer, whose match was set to follow Sharapova’s. Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal were the big-name winners on a Friday night that was billed as a washout in the making but finished without a hitch, save a 25-minute rain delay in the afternoon that resulted from the small, and only, band from Earl to sneak into the city.

Fish survives in five against Clement in third round
2010-09-03 18:32:08
NEW YORK (AP)—American Mardy Fish beat Arnaud Clement of France in five sets in at the U.S. Open to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2008 at Flushing Meadows. The 19th-seeded Fish won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 on Saturday. Fish dropped to his knees then saluted the crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium after Clement's last shot landed wide. The 68th-ranked Clement upset 16th-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. The 32-year-old was in the third round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2005.

Isner takes out Chiudinelli to reach third round
2010-09-03 04:47:47
NEW YORK (AP)—American John Isner served 24 aces and maxed out at 144 mph to win his second-round match at the U.S. Open. The 18th-seeded Isner, the highest ranked U.S. man left in the tournament, defeated Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 on Friday. Isner, who defeated Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set of the first round at Wimbledon, has spent just under five hours on the court in his two wins at Flushing Meadows—still six hours less than he spent in the history-making win over Mahut. He needs one more win to match his best showing ever at the U.S. Open or any Grand Slam tournament.

Murray defeats Brown in under 90 minutes on Ashe
2010-09-03 04:27:49
NEW YORK (AP)—Britain’s Andy Murray has defeated Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 to move into the third round of the U.S. Open. The fourth-seeded Murray is seeking to make his second U.S. Open final in three years. He won this year’s U.S. Open Series title, which means he could earn up to an extra million in prize money if he wins the tournament. Brown pushed him to 5-5 in the first set of the match Friday, but Murray won 14 of the next 17 games. The entire match lasted 1 hour, 25 minutes and the third set went 18 minutes.

Stakhovsky beats Harrison in thriller; Clijsters rolls
2010-09-03 04:14:09
NEW YORK (AP)—“Let’s go, Ryan!” Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap. On his way to victory at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Friday, the highest-seeded American man left in the U.S. Open, No. 18 John Isner, could hear the wild cheering and chanting going on at the adjacent Grandstand in support of another American man, Ryan Harrison, a qualifier who was the lowest-ranked (220) and youngest (18) player still in the tournament. Isner, striving to be known for more than winning the longest tennis match in history, reached the third round by beating Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4. Harrison, striving to show he belongs at this level, came as close as possible to winning without doing so, wasting three match points in the fifth-set tiebreaker and losing 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. “I’m trying to hopefully get to the top 10, so I feel like one match doesn’t make or break that,” Harrison said, doing his best to look on the bright side. “It’s the experience of playing these type of matches that is really going to help me to get there.” This was the second Grand Slam tournament of Harrison’s nascent career, and the first at which he won a match - and what a victory it was, an upset over 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic. For Isner, this is the first major tournament he’s played since Wimbledon in June, when he hit a record 113 aces during an 11-hour-plus, 183-game, first-round marathon spread over three days. He beat Nicolas Mahut in a 70-68 fifth set, and while appreciative of the significance of that match, Isner is quite ready to move on. “I don’t want that to be, like, the lasting image of my career,” the 6-foot-9 Isner said after finishing with 24 aces against the 63rd-ranked Chiudinelli. “So that’s up to me to make it not that way. It’s up to me to do well in big tournaments, tournaments such as this.” He can match his best Grand Slam showing if he beats No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny to make it to the fourth round. Isner, who won an NCAA championship at the University of Georgia, was joined in the third round by No. 20 Sam Querrey, a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 winner Friday against Marcel Granollers of Spain. Of 15 U.S. men originally in the draw, four are left: Isner, Querrey, No. 19 Mardy Fish and wild card James Blake. Fish and Blake play third-round matches Saturday. “Hopefully it’ll continue on, and hopefully, James and Mardy and other Americans will keep moving forward, too,” said Querrey, who now faces No. 4 Andy Murray, the 2008 runner-up in New York. For comparison’s sake, there are nine Spanish men in the third round, seven of whom won Friday, led by No. 1-seeded Rafael Nadal. Murray beat Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, and other seeded winners included No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, No. 10 David Ferrer, No. 23 Feliciano Lopez and No. 31 David Nalbandian. The only seeded man to exit Friday was No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber, who lost 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 to former top-10 player Gilles Simon. Now Simon will try to end Nadal’s 17-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal saved all seven break points he faced in his 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over 39th-ranked Denis Istomin in Arthur Ashe Stadium at night, after 2000-01 champion Venus Williams easily got past 185th-ranked qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1. “I had no idea what my opponent played like,” Williams said afterward, but apparently it didn’t matter, and she accumulated a 29-5 advantage in winners while her injured sister Serena watched from the stands. Next for the older Williams is No. 16 Shahar Peer, who beat No. 19 Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4. There were no upsets in women’s third-round play, other than, perhaps, the fact that Kim Clijsters lost the first three games of her match before coming back to defeat No. 27 Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0. French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, French Open runner-up Sam Stosur, two-time major finalist Elena Dementieva, and former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic all won, all in straight sets. The highlight, without a doubt, was Schiavone’s back-to-the-net, between-the-legs shot in her 6-1, 7-5 victory over No. 29 Alona Bondarenko - nearly identical to what Roger Federer has done each of the past two years at the U.S. Open. Schiavone said she was looking forward to seeing a replay, which will be easy, because, like Federer’s efforts, her shot was quickly posted on YouTube. “I’d like to see it again,” Schiavone said. “I’m curious.” Querrey watched “pretty much the entire fourth and fifth set” of Harrison’s loss, which he called a “tough one.” “I was in the lunchroom,” Querrey said. “Everyone had their eyes glued to the TV.” Harrison went ahead 6-3 in the deciding tiebreaker against the 36th-ranked Stakhovsky, who won a hard-court title at New Haven, Conn., last week. Had he won any of the next three points, Harrison would have gone on to try to become the youngest American man to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open since 17-year-old Michael Chang in 1989. Pete Sampras also made the fourth round in New York that year, at 18, and won the title in 1990 at 19. “Didn’t really seem that he’s going to choke,” Stakhovsky would say later. But Stakhovsky took the next five points to end it. He hit an overhead winner, then a service winner, and Harrison closed a nine-stroke exchange by dumping a backhand into the net to make it 6-all. “Just kind of, you know, fell apart from there,” Harrison acknowledged. On the next point, Harrison double-faulted for the eighth time, giving Stakhovsky a 7-6 lead and a match point, which he converted with a forehand volley. “Just got a little bit tight whenever I needed to come through,” Harrison said. He certainly couldn’t complain about which way the crowd was rooting at the 6,106-capacity Grandstand. Stakhovsky estimated he heard no more than 50 people shouting for him in Russian and summed up the scene this way: “It was nice, I mean, except that 99.9 percent of the people were against me.” Isner’s match was going on simultaneously next door and he couldn’t exactly tell what was happening, of course. “When the crowd cheered, you know, that was when Ryan won a point,” Isner explained. Both of those matches were halted for less than a half-hour by a rain delay when the outer edges of Hurricane Earl made a passing appearance. But otherwise, play carried on under gray clouds and in temperatures in the 80s instead of the 90s during the first four days of the U.S. Open.