The Day After: Oudin a Celebrity in Times Square after US Open upset of Maria Sharapova

Melanie Oudin Passed a celebrity hour at Times Square on Sunday, a day after upsetting Maria Sharapova.Melanie Oudin stepped out of a United Sates Open van in Times Square on Sunday morning and got a glimpse of the future: She is a celebrity.

Melanie Oudin Passed a celebrity hour at Times Square on Sunday, a day after upsetting Maria Sharapova.Melanie Oudin stepped out of a United Sates Open van in Times Square on Sunday morning and got a glimpse of the future: She is a celebrity.

Melanie Oudin looked small and uncertain as she faced a growing crowd in the middle of Times Square Sunday morning. Less than 24 hours after the biggest win of her tennis career, the 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was dealing with a new reality.

"It's that tennis player," one teenage girl yelled to another as she whipped out her cell phone to take a picture. "The little one. The one that beat Sharapova."

Tourists and passers-by began to gather on 43rd St. Photographers jostled to get a shot of the new teenaged sensation who had just knocked out a former U.S. Open champion. Tourists and photographers jostled and yelled as everyone seemed to call her name from every direction.

The 5-foot-6 Melanie Oudin smiled nervously until the photographers began to push and shove each other. She was whisked away to a waiting car.

"It wasn't really scary. It was just really weird," Oudin said. "They all seemed to know me. It was just weird."


Melanie Oudin was presented with a cake that had her mantra Believe written on it.
Photographers (alerted by women’s tennis tour officials) crowded around to snap her picture with a tennis racket. Bystanders smiled and pointed cameras and cellphones. “She beat Sharapova,” said a pedestrian to his companions.A caterer had delivered a cake that said “NYC Loves Oudin Believe!” (Believe is her mantra). She stood beside the confection for more picture taking.It all happened pretty much wordlessly — until she was asked the inevitable question: “How do you feel?”

“Excited,” she said, smiling and stepping back into the van before it pulled away to return to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Five-set triumph required for heaven-sent for Taylor Dent at U.S. Open Its needed heaven sent for Taylor Dent at U.S. Open.All of the fatigue, all o

Its needed heaven sent for Taylor Dent at U.S. Open.All of the fatigue, all of the agony, they never seemed so far in the past as when Dent was running a ring around the Grandstand court at the National Tennis Center Friday night, slapping five with the fans who just wanted a piece of one of the most improbable - perhaps only - victory laps the U.S. Open's No. 3 court has ever seen. Taylor Dent - who only a couple of years ago was told Taylor Dent might never walk again, let alone take such a triumphant jog - went 4hours and 13 minutes on the Grandstand to outlast Ivan Navarro of Spain, 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (1), 7-5, 7-6 (9), in a second-round matchup of serve-and-volleyers that turned into the most captivating match of the tournament.

When it was over, Taylor Dent simply couldn't contain his joy, grabbing the chair umpire's microphone and telling the crowd, "I just want to say you guys are unbelievable, I love you. Let's go!"

They are going together into the third round of the Open, where Dent will meet the No. 2 ranked player in the world, Andy Murray, with all of the fans and none of the odds in his corner.

"My voice is hoarse, I'm so excited," Taylor Dent said on the court afterward as the crowd chanted "USA! USA!" "It wasn't the prettiest match, but my grit got me through today."

Today, Friday, for three years, his grit has seen him through, if not to the top of the tennis world. The Newport Beach, Calif., product once was considered one of the great American hopes in men's tennis, charted on a course alongside Andy Roddick and learning under the tutelage of Pete Sampras. He reached as high as the No. 21 ranking before beginning to suffer back pain so excruciating that hanging a picture in his house would knock him down for hours.

Three surgeries on his back cost him most of the last three years of his career and left him bedridden all day for up to eight months at a time. He was told to forget tennis, and that the broken vertebra that was threatening the nerves at the base of his back might land him in a wheelchair.

Taylor Dent said "I came to grips with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to play professional tennis anymore," he said.

US Open 2009: Serena Williams enters into quarter-finals

Defending champion Serena Williams has made sure to enter into the quarter-finals of the US Open with a 6-2, 6-0 beating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

No worries: Serena Williams only dropped two games in her win over Daniela Hantuchova

The second seed will play either Vera Zvonareva of Russia or Flavia Pennetta of Italy for a place in the semi-finals.

It was a routine win for the tournament favourite in stark contrast to the trials and tribulations of several of her main contenders, especially the Russian brigade of top seed Dinara Safina, Maria Sharapova and Elene Dementieva who all crashed out the following day.

The 27-year-old Williams broke serve in the sixth and eighth games of the first set against the Slovak, who was playing in her 35th Grand Slam event and with just one semi-final showing, at the 2008 Australian Open, to show for it.

The second set was one-way traffic as the title-holder made it 10 games in a row to march into the semi-finals in just 64 minutes.

"Daniela is such a good player and I knew I had to be serious as she always gives me trouble," Wil

Andy Roddick upset by John Isner

The latest news of US open is the Fifth-seeded Andy Roddick was upset by John Isner, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5), on Saturday night. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images)

Reporting from New York - When Andy Roddick saved three match points against John Isner, he did it from the bottom of his feet. Andy Roddick rose up, lifted up and pounded out service aces.

But then there was a fourth match point, and the start of that point belonged to the 24-year-old John Isner, a 6-foot-9 former NCAA champion who has been sick with mononucleosis this summer and who was starting to cramp.

John Isner didn't serve an ace. But John Isner served big and he rushed the net to hit some volleys and stretch his long arms and dare the fifth-seeded Roddick to hit the ball past him.Andy Roddick tried, Andy Roddick couldn't and John Isner had himself the biggest upset of the U.S. Open men's tournament, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5) Saturday night.

John Isner reacts after upsetting Andy Roddick during their third round match at the US Open in Flushing on Saturday.

It took one hour and 21 minutes for Isner to win the first two sets and 1:36 for Roddick to win the next two. Isner may be the first underdog to have gathered so little support at Ashe Stadium, but the large majority of the crowd was firmly in Roddick's corner. So was momentum going into that final set.

"Any time somebody comes back from two sets, momentum is certainly on your side," Roddick said. "In the fifth set I knew I wanted to finish it before it got to the tiebreaker and kind of became a shootout."

Andy Roddick had statistical reason to fear the tiebreaker. Coming into the match, Isner had won 14 of the 15 tiebreakers he had played.

Even if, as Andy Roddick said, he had come into this tournament with a huge sense of confidence, sometimes there is nothing to be done against a large, tall guy who keeps hitting big serves and rushing the net.

John Isner missed both the French Open and Wimbledon because of his illness, and he said he felt fatigue in the fifth set against Roddick.

Next up for the former Georgia Bulldog will another physical challenge.

Andy Murray's destination to the final US Open's bad guy

Andy Murray in smiling face

Winning must be nedded that would put Andy Murray through to the fourth round and bring him up to speed with the rest of the field. If he is to reach the final again this year, it will be in spite of the people who organise the US Open and not because of them.The rouet to be passed by Andy Murray-

The first week of the Open is almost over and yet Murray has still only played two matches. Today he will play his third – against Taylor Dent – and begin a gruelling run-in towards the sharp end of the tournament. If he is to repeat his run of last year and reach the final, he must play five, best-of-five set matches in eight days. It is a mad schedule for a tournament that is run – officially – over 14 days.But yet has a potential to reach the final before Andy Murray.

ANDY MURRAY'S POTENTIAL ROUTE TO THE FINAL

THIRD ROUND: ANDY MURRAY VS TAYLOR DENT

The American wild card, ranked 195 in the world, beat Spain's Ivan Navarro in a fifth-set tie-break to make the third round. Murray has met the 28-year-old twice, and won on both occasions.

FOURTH ROUND:ANDY MURRAY VS MARIN CILIC

The 16th seed had to show his battling qualities in the second round to come from two sets down to overcome Jesse Levine 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. Murray has faced the Croatian three times on three different surfaces and remains undefeated.

QUARTER-FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO

The Argentine sixth seed, pictured left, stayed on course for a quarter-final meeting with Murray after a three-set win over Jurgen Melzer, although his performance was inconsistent. The 20-year-old was pushed all the way in a first set lasting more than an hour before winning 8-6 on a tie-break.

Murray leads the Argentine 4-1 in head-to-heads.

SEMI-FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS RAFAEL NADAL

Still on the road to full fitness after the knee problems that ruled him out of Wimbledon, Nadal held off a spirited challenge from world No.129 Nicolas Kiefer in the second round. Nadal will play 32nd seed Nicolas Almagro in the third round.

Although Murray trails 7-2 in head-to-heads, he will be buoyed by his US Open semi-final win over Nadal last year.

FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS ROGER FEDERER

Murray lost out to the formidable Swiss here last year, but the world No.2 leads Federer 6-3 in head-to-heads, with all nine matches taking place on hard courts.

Federer, Djokovic in fourth round at U.S. Open

The five-time champion Roger Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday to reach the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Former runner-up Novak Djokovic joined the amazing Federer in the round of 16.

The world No. 1 Roger Federer dropped the first set against the 31st-seeded Hewitt before charging back for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 decision at Ashe Stadium.Roger Federer beat Hewitt in the 2004 final on the grounds of the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.

Roger Federer got past Hewitt despite piling up an uncharacteristic 59 unforced errors, which was 22 more than the 2001 champion Hewitt.

The 15-time major champion Roger Federer advanced in 2 hours, 33 minutes with the help of 15 aces among his 51 winners, while Lleyton Hewitt settled for 26 winners in the setback. The Swiss great also tallied two more service breaks (5-3) than his Aussie counterpart.

Roger Federer, who is also the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champ, has now beaten Hewitt in their last 14 matchups, dating back to 2004, and is 16-7 lifetime against the fiery Aussie.

The former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam event champion Lleyton Hewitt has been climbing back up in the rankings after undergoing hip surgery last summer.

The 28-year-old Roger Federer, who hasn't lost here since 2003, beat Britain's Andy Murray in last year's Big Apple finale. The sublime Swiss will meet 14th- seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo or 21st-seeded American James Blake in the round 16.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic was tested mightily by American qualifier Jesse Witten before prevailing in 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 fashion at Armstrong Stadium. The 26-year-old Witten needed a wild card to get into the qualifying here and had never won an ATP-level match before going 2-1 this week.

Novak Djokovic got past Witten in 3 hours, 28 minutes with the help of a whopping nine service breaks. The surprising Witten tallied six breaks in a losing effort. Unfortunately for Witten, who notched 11 more winners than his Serbian counterpart (42-31), he piled up 11 double faults on Day 6.

The former Aussie Open champion Novak Djokovic was the 2007 runner-up here to Federer.

Up next for Djokovic will be 15th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who came back to best 23rd-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. The Top-16 seeds in the draw are now a perfect 35-0 this week.

Two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko cruised into the fourth round with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Swiss Marco Chiudinelli. The Russian Davydenko, seeded eighth this year, reached the final four here in 2006 and 2007.

The third round is scheduled to conclude here on Sunday, including matches for the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Murray and former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. The second-seeded Murray will meet American Taylor Dent, while a third-seeded Nadal, the reigning Australian Open titlist, will encounter 32nd-seeded fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Also on Sunday, sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro will take on Austrian Daniel Koellerer and seventh-seeded former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be opposed by fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Winning night of Federer and Serena

Under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Federer defeated Simon Greul of Germany in a slightly more difficult way that was unexpected at 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

Federer will play Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday in the third round. Hewitt beat Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-3, 6-6, 6-4. Federer is 15-7 against Hewitt and has won their last 13 encounters. Roger Federer has stretched his U.S. Open winning streak to 36 matches by reaching the third round.Federer is trying to become the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the American Grand Slam tournament 6 years in a row.Next up for Federer: a match against 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt.





In another late match, No. 2 Serena Williams was pretty close to perfect in beating 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.Also yesterday, Venus Williams moved on, Rafael Nadal came back and Marat Safin said goodbye.

Her left knee heavily wrapped, the third-seeded Williams defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-4, 6-2, in a less taxing match than she had 2 nights earlier when she fell behind a set before rallying against Vera Dushevina.

"I'm still playing well and I feel I'll continue to play better as the rounds go on," she said. "I'm trying not to make this injury a factor at all."

Breaking with tradition, the Federer match was played first at Arthur Ashe Stadium ahead of the women’s match, in which Serena Williams routed Melinda Czink of Hungary, 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes.It was the first time the sexes had switched starting times since 1986, when a match featuring Jimmy Connors was played before a women’s match headlined by Gabriela Sabatini. The United States Tennis Association is expected to have at least one more card in which the men play first.

“Seems like it was a success so far,” Federer said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

But whether playing first, second, day or night, it mattered not to Greul, who was ranked 65th in the world entering the tournament and as low as 208th a year ago.After a listless first set, Greul played more aggressively, attacking Federer’s serve and forcing him to fight off two set points on his serve before Federer held and broke Greul in the 11th game. Federer hit three consecutive backhand slices and then changed the pace with a topspin backhand, following it up with a wicked forehand winner.

Federer won the match in 1 hour 58 minutes. As Greul walked off the court, he was cheered warmly by the 24,206 fans, a night session record.Greul said that because of the circumstances — playing against the world’s best player on center court at night — he could take more out of the loss than some of his victories.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “I’m really happy how it worked.”

The Hewitt-Chela match did not expose lingering rifts between the players. Chela once spit in the direction of Hewitt at the Australian Open. They amiably shook hands when it was over.