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.

Murray ready well to face Dent in US Open

World number two Andy Murray is confident to utilize every opportunity to win the last Grand Slam of 2009 as he prepares to faceAndy Murray in their US Open third-round match on Sunday.

The Scotsman Andy Murray -- who is trying to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in 1936 -- will play for a spot in the last 16 against the 196th-ranked US wild card .
"You want to make sure you don't have any regrets as it's a good three or four months before the next Grand Slam," said Andy Murray -- who was last year's beaten finalist.
Andy Murray enjoys playing at Flushing Meadows but the 22-year-old is well aware that the 25,000 capacity crowd will be firmly behind Dent -- who is playing in his first US Open since 2005.
A serious back injury forced the 28-year-old out of the world rankings, but he underwent complex spinal and has slowly begun to claw his way back up the world rankings.
Dent used his booming serve to outlast Spain's Ivan Navarro 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (1/7), 7-5, 7-6 (11/9) and delighted the crowd with a wild celebration that culminated in him grabbing the umpire's microphone to thank his fans.
"Andy Murray y is tough. It's going to be rough. There's no way around it," said Dent.
"My execution is not where I want it to be but I'm going to go out there and fight as hard as I possibly can. Even if it's 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, I'm going to give him everything I've got," he added.

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.

US Open 2009 - Roger Federer vs Juan Martin Del Potro be the best Final?

When you look at the men's singles draw, there is hardly a player that can reasonably be expected to stop Roger Federer before the final. Juan Martin Del Potro can be the deserved man in US open to beat Roger Federer .

Roger Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt earlier today in 4 sets to reach the round of 16 and you have to put the Swiss Maestro into the quarters as he will be a huge favorite against either James Blake or Tommy Robredo. After that Roger Federer would draw either Robin Soderling or Nikolay Davydenko and neither of those two players can actually be looking forward to that projected quarterfinal match as they are a combined 0-23 against Federer lifetime, regardless of event or surface.

Even if Andy Roddick can get past John Isner and then Fernando Verdasco (Roddick is down two sets to Isner at time of writing) you still would never, ever call Roddick to beat Federer because Roger has always been the American's major nemesis. Time after time after time, Roddick has fallen to Federer, often in huge matches, as the American only has 2 life time wins against Federer.......in 21 matches played.

The only player that looks good enough to stop Roger Federer before the 2009 US Open final is Novak Djokovic, but he will be in tough just to make the semis with Verdasco at the top of his game and in the same part of the draw. Even if he does make it that far however,Roger Federer beat Djokovic just a couple weeks ago in the Cincy final and he, Federer, looked great doing it. Novak Djokovic would have a chance in the projected match based on his hardcourt abilities but he would still be a significant underdog based on Federer's play over the years in Flushing Meadows.

On the other side of the draw you have to like Juan Martin Del Potro's draw, at least to the quarters. Juan Martin Del Potro is going against no-name Daniel Koellerer next and then he will play the winner of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gilles Simon. Neither of those two players looks good enough to beat Del Potro, even though Simon is ranked 9th on tour.

From the quarters to the final, Juan Martin Del Potro would likely face Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal with Murray being the biggest hang up. Juan Martin Del Potro has a recent victory over Nadal, who has never made a US Open final, and a few weeks ago Juan Martin Del Potro looked like he was going to take Murray out in the Canadian final before fatigue ruined his game. With the easy draw Del Potro has to the quarters, you have to think that he will still be fresh if he plays the Scot in Flushing Meadows this year and that could spell trouble for Murray.

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.

American Melanie Oudin stuns Sharapova at U.S. Open

American teenager Melanie Oudin pulled off straightly upstart of a Russian star, as Maria Sharapova was ousted by the Georgia native in Saturday's third-round action at the U.S. Open.
Melanie Oudin sat there in shock. Then, the tears started falling.Believe it or not, 17-year-old Melanie Oudin is the toast of the town at the U.S. Open.
"I don't even know what to say right now," Melanie Oudin said, choking back tears in her postmatch interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium. "Thank you so much for cheering for me."
Maria Sharapova, who has won this tournament once, usually gets those cheers. But on this cloudless day in Queens, the fans were rooting for a new potential queen — the one who stamped the word "Believe" on her shoes, but probably didn't see this coming so soon.
"My goal was to make the top 50," Melanie Oudin said. "But if I keep playing like this, who knows? Hopefully, I can get as high as anything."
Melanie Oudin added this upset to one over No. 4 Elena Dementieva in the second round and a win over former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic this year at Wimbledon.
Her confidence is growing as quickly as her resume, and suddenly, it does seem like anything is possible.

Gritting her way through a shaky third set, the 70th-ranked player from Marietta, Ga., pulled off her second upset of the Open on Saturday, defeating a more-seasoned, more-famous, more-moneyed opponent — 29th-seeded Maria Sharapova, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The three-time major champion Sharapova captured a U.S. Open title back in 2006.


Maria Sharapova had little trouble with Oudin in the opening set on Saturday, but the young American fought back and captured the second set on her seventh set point to surprise Sharapova and force a third and deciding stanza.

In the final set, Maria Sharapova saved six break points to pull within 2-3 and then summoned a trainer to work on her right arm. The Russian superstar Maria Sharapova sidelined for more than 10 months because of a right shoulder injury that wound up requiring surgery last year. She returned to the tour earlier this season.

In the first game following Sharapova's injury timeout, Melanie Oudin broke for a 4-3 edge. And then following several more breaks of serve on either side, Oudin found herself serving for the match at 6-5 and converted on her first match point with a forehand winner into a wide-open court.

The Marietta native Oudin broke into tears as she moved into the second week here for the first time in her blossoming career. The upstart American also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this summer by shocking former top- ranked star Jelena Jankovic.

Maria Sharapova imploded for 21 double faults and had her once-powerful serve broken eight times. Oudin was also broken on eight occasions in the 2-hour, 58-minute battle.

Melanie Oudin's fourth-round opponent will be another Russian, 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova, who was an easy 6-4, 6-1 victor against 21st-seeded Chinese Zheng Jie on Day 6 at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.