Zachary Woolfe

We learned a lot this year!

We learned that men's tennis has entered a new golden age, and that women's tennis is in disrepair. (Though that didn't stop the women's final from being surprisingly riveting, and the men's final from being something of a bore.)

We noticed that American men like Andy Roddick and James Blake are in the twilight of their careers, but that strong new Americans are emerging -- with more compelling fan support.

We ate (lots of) hot dogs and more exotic fare, and we marveled at the number of pizzas and hamburgers that everyone else consumed.

We walked the grounds and found hoodies, smokers,  read more »

In the tennis world, we have grown used to assuming that when good players lose, especially in "upsets," the loser must be suffering from injuries. And the truth of injury declarations has been a factor towards the end of this tournament, as when Novak Djokovic publicly defended himself against Andy Roddick's maybe-joking doubt about Djokovic's medical issues.

In a graceful press conference after his semifinal loss against Andy Murray, though, Rafael Nadal told the truth: Murray just played better.

"Injuries? What injuries?" he said in response to a question which seemed to assume that Nadal must have been dealing with a handicap. "No, no. Not one during all the season."

So, if it wasn't Nadal's injuries, what could possibly have led to this unforeseen victory?!?! "He play better than me and he beat me."

Simple.

For all the dismal boredom of this year's women's draw, the talk of crazy upsets among the females, and the theory that Serena has this one locked up, the women's semifinals look...surprisingly legit.

3 of the top 5 seeds will play in semifinal matches on the women's side, the same as the men's side. And these are four players at the top of their game: they've only dropped 3 sets between them so far this tournament, a remarkable statistic over a total of 20 matches. Serena is no sure thing, though her power will be effective against Dinara Safina. And Dementieva vs. sunshine-tastic Jankovic is an excellent matchup.

So while the women may seem to lack drama and rivalry, they don't lack for good players or good tennis at the end of this Open.

Sometimes God tests us, forcing us to confront unthinkable pain in order to know better the scope and power of His will.

This is one of those times. Sybille Bammer has lost in the quarterfinals of this year's Open to Jelena Jankovic, 6-1, 6-4. It's O.K., breathe. It's hard for me, too. The "statistics" indicate that Bammer's near-ridiculous number of unforced errors (40, to Jankovic's 14) sealed her fate, but it doesn't make the result any less unfathomable.

Andy Roddick, the 2003 Open champion and perpetual Great White Hope of U.S. men's tennis, dominated his fourth-round match against Fernando Gonzalez, taking just about an hour and a half to win, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Roddick played excellently and consistently, committing only 7 unforced errors and and winning 93 percent of first-serve points, but Gonzalez didn't help himself with 33 errors.

Lest we think that this commanding performance means that Roddick is surely headed for a tournament victory, though, let's remember the names of his likely opponents in the next 3 rounds: Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. Yowza.

Is Jelena Jankovic brutally candid, or a bit depressive?

In ancient Greek times, melancholia was thought to be caused by an excess of black bile in the blood. This has been more or less disproven by modern science.

What ails Jankovic isn't entirely clear. Later tonight, she'll face off against Sybille Bammer in the Quarterfinals. We're wondering where her mind is, so consider the following quotes from press conferences she's given during the past week and a half:

"I'm tired now. I'm actually falling asleep now. It's about time for me to go to bed, but when I was on the court, I really didn't think about sleeping.

 read more »

It seems like Mardy Fish is the long-lost brother of lookalike Robert Kendrick, who lost to Novak Djokovic today, 7-6 (8), 6-4, 6-4. In other news from this cool, cloudy, and (very briefly) drizzly Day 5: -- The shakeup in the women's draw continues, as third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova fell to the 28th seed, Katarina Srebotnik, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-3. That's good news for Elena Dementieva, who moved on to the Round of 16, and a clearer path to the semis, with a strong win over Anne Keothavong, 6-3, 6-4. -- Surprise, surprise: Roger Federer defeated Thiago Alves in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. -- Indeed, as opposed to the women's side, the men's top 10 is still intact.  read more »

In a stirring declaration of independence from Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer said today, "I schedule my life around my life, not his life."

Asked whether he had watched Nadal's two matches so far, he said that he had missed both, including Rafa's second-round disemboweling of Ryler DeHeart: "I was gone for dinner and he decided to do it quick, so I missed the -- I was expecting five sets. I was there for four and five, but he wasn't there anymore, so that was that was problem."

I say to ye today, that to this land of Lacoste and Polo hath come a savior!

Who shall teach ye the ways of farmer tans!

Whosoever pulleth thy jeans down past thy boxers, shall cleave unto him!

Since my little Indian food adventure turned out all right, I figured I could expand my Open culinary horizons. So I ate four hot dogs.

There are three varieties of frankfurter on sale here: the basic All Beef ($4.50), the Kosher Jumbo ($5.50), and the Coney Island Footlong ($6.00).

Let's get one thing out of the way right now: the "Jumbo" is precisely the same size as the All Beef. They are indistinguishable in every other respect, too. One might be slightly darker in color than the other, but right off the bat I mixed the two up, and there was not any way of telling them apart, let alone telling which was better.  read more »

In a surprise move, John Maxwell Coetzee became the first Nobel Laureate to give up writing and join the ATP tour. He's playing men's and mixed doubles in this year's Open. Toni Morrison had considered it back in the mid-1980s, but wrote Beloved instead.

The first of our questions for the day has been answered, as Jelena Jankovic not only stayed standing, but won in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, over Jie Zheng. It wasn't easy, though, and those two sets took over two hours. Jankovic will play her first seeded player in the Round of 16; her opponent will be either Victoria Azarenka (14) or Caroline Wozniacki (21), who play later today.

The spray bottle may be smaller this year, the hair floppier, but Evian's boys of summer remain a U.S. Open constant.

Adam Shorsten's job is to zap passersby with cooling Evian facial spray -- "from the French alps," a nearby Evian flack interjected. Shorsten had a little less to do today than usual, since it's cloudy and relatively cool, but he didn't seem too put off, saying it's been "an easy gig" and "a lot of fun."

Shorsten, 25, was chosen through a model casting, along with his "assistants" working alongside him at the booth (the hierarchy is unclear).  read more »

Jelena Jankovic vs. Jie Zheng
Will Jelena stay awake? (She has mixed doubles later in the day, too...jeez.)

Tommy Robredo vs. Marat Safin
Can Marat calm down?

Lindsay Davenport vs. Marion Bartoli
Will Mom No. 1 stay alive?

Sybille Bammer vs. Tatiana Perebiynis
Will Bam-Bam's inevitable path to the championship take two sets or three?

Roger Federer vs. Thiago Alves
Novak Djokovic vs. Robert Kendrick
Which one -- Roger or Novak -- will look the stronger as they eye a semifinal meeting (they're back-to-back on Arthur Ashe)?

—The first big, big upset of the tournament, as unseeded qualifier Julie Coin, making her Grand Slam debut, knocked off top-seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. This opens up the women's draw a bit, making things a bit easier for Dinara Safina, who doesn't have Ivanovic to look forward to in the quarterfinals. Safina now has an easier path to the semis, where she quite possibly could be playing the winner of an all-Williams quarter. (Safina and Venus Williams moved on easily today; Serena plays tonight.) The guy from The Globe and Mail a few chairs down clearly has an Ivanovic crush, but he "doesn't want to wax poetic" about her "delicate" fist pump, et cetera, to whomever he's talking to on the phone.  read more »

James Blake and Mardy Fish are close friends -- Blake will even be one of the groomsmen at Fish's wedding in September -- but they'll put that aside for a couple of hours to face each other in the third round. "No matter what happens," Blake said, "we're gonna be friends afterwards." He said that they'd likely be going to dinner after the match, and "maybe the winner'll have to pay." Fish will be there after riding his powerful serve to an upset victory over 24th-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fish's first serve percentage was 60%, and he won 85% of those points.  read more »

We thought that Sybille Bammer was only the mother of our hearts, but it turns out that she is one of only three mothers (of children, not hearts) on the WTA Tour (one, Rossana De Los Rios, was blown out by Venus Williams today, and the other is Lindsay Davenport).

Her seven-year-old daughter, Tina, is known for telling tennis fans to be quiet "because Mummy is concentrating."

Bammer, as everyone knows, yesterday moved on to the third round, where she will face Tatiana Perebiynis. If all goes according to the Lord's plan and Bammer is triumphant, she could very well play Davenport in an improbable Battle of the Moms in the Round of 16.

Sports Illustrated tennis guru Jon Wertheim wrote in his 2008 list of tips for Open fans, "The food court fare -- once the subject of so much derision -- no longer seems so overpriced. And it's quite good. (Thankfully, the Indian joint is back in 2008!)"

Indian food? At a sports venue? That seems to be asking for trouble. But Wertheim is a brilliant man, so I risked my bowels and made my way to New Delhi Spice in the Food Village.

Apparently the Indian stand isn't a favorite just for Wertheim. Karen Jacob had eaten here in previous years, and, asked if she had liked it, said, "I'm back, aren't I?" Touché.  read more »

Tennis fans have a new view as they walk back to the 7 train after the Open: a stadium is growing on the other side of Roosevelt Avenue.

Citi Field, which will open next spring, will be the home of the New York Mets baseball team, and is being built next to Shea Stadium, which it's replacing. Shea, built in 1964, is like Queens itself: an aesthetic jumble, charmingly uncomfortable and unexpectedly lovable.

The design of Citi Field, though, is strange for a stadium located in one of the most diverse places on Earth. Citi is being built to look like Ebbets Field, the storied home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and it reflects a taste in new baseball stadium design for a retro look evoking some vague vision of Fifties, apple pie America.  read more »

Overheard on ESPN SportsCenter this morning during a review of last night's Lindsay Davenport match: "A rally ensued, as it so often does in this sport."

Novak Djokovic came into last year's Open unknown to many tennis fans, and he quickly became known as much for his impersonations of other players as for his playing.

But funny time is over. Djokovic said, "I always want people to remember me, of course, as a tennis player, as a great tennis player, a champion, whatever. I don't want them to remember me as a clown."

(No more Sharapova impression?! Then what are we DOING here?!)

There's a new font at the Open, and it might look familiar.

American Express, one of the tournament's major sponsors, seems to be cribbing from the Obama campaign's well-received graphic design, especially its use of Gotham font.

"It’s substantial yet friendly," branding expert Brian Collins said about Gotham to The New York Times. Just what you want from a credit card.

Lindsay Davenport "felt it was a little bit tough for me to get much rhythm" as she moved on to the third round in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, experiencing some difficulty from Alisa Kleybanova along the way. Davenport "didn't feel like it was very pretty tennis," and she was right. She didn't ever seem really comfortable during play, and though she won a huge percentage of points on her first serve, the percentage of first serves that went in was just over 50%. If she can get more consistency on her serve, she may provide a great match against her first seeded opponent yet this tournament, 12th-seeded Marion Bartoli.  read more »

James Blake vs. Steve Darcis

Mardy Fish vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu

Sam Querrey vs. Nicolas Devilder
Day 4 is a good time to take the temperature of American men at the tournament, as one of the United States' biggest stars and two of its most promising young players all have second-round matches. James Blake should be able to beat Steve Darcis, but after being taken to five sets by Donald Young the other night, it will be interesting to see how he's looking. Mardy Fish is the definite underdog against 24th-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu, but Fish can be dangerous. The match between Sam Querrey and Nicolas Devilder is more evenly matched, and Querrey will have lots of support in the stands.  read more »

-- Novak Djokovic, the third seed and a favorite to go far in this tournament (at least as far as an eagerly anticipated semifinal rematch of his final last year versus Roger Federer), advanced to the second round in straight sets, beating Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. In that third set, Djokovic needed a trainer to tape up his ankle, which he later said was doing "OK." He predicted that it would be fine in two days, in time to face unseeded American Robert Kendrick in the second round.

-- 5th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, a semifinalist here in 2006 and 2007, also advanced in straight sets.  read more »

Sybille Bammer continued her quest for truth and justice today with a scintillating 6-1, 7-5 win over Aravane Rezai. Rezai, I regret to inform you, had more winners than The Golden One, but -- BUT! -- far more errors, too, and Bammer's strong second serve carried the day. Our limitless enthusiasm for Bammer -- and it is limitless -- is looking steadily less funny.

Jelena Jankovic has suffered from leg injuries for much of this year, and she had something of a scare in the third set of her second-round match against Sofia Arvidsson, when she was down on the court for about 30 seconds without sound or movement. But it didn't seem leg-related: "I was just tired, and I couldn't get up. I was so exhausted at that moment. I was breathing hard, and I didn't have the energy to get up." Yikes.

Jankovic went on, "I would have loved to, you know, take a nap on court, because I was really exhausted. But, you know, the rules are the rules. I had to keep going."

(Perhaps Brian Earley can be persuaded to institute naptime during changeovers?)

Jankovic went on to win, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.

Continental Airlines, an integral player in an industry flying high on low fuel prices and offering better service at lower cost every day, has set up two chairs on the South Plaza which simulate its "BusinessFirst Experience." You can sign up for a "Boarding Pass," enabling you to sit in the seats for half an hour, watch any of the matches on little screens, and eat complimentary cheese.

Linda Pistoll, who is 63 (or, as she sportingly put it, "39 plus tax"), and Shirley Malitz, 67, were taking in the scene. Linda said, "The chairs are very comfortable -- I feel I'm in first class with a nice little television."

Asked if they planned to stay all day, Shirley said, "Looks that way," but Linda corrected her: "We're only allowed to stay for a little while."

I left as Linda and Shirley received their cheese plates.

In the Battle of the Ekaterinas, "Maka" -- Ekaterina Makarova -- triumphed, losing the first set to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova before taking the next two to win, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Makarova's loud cheering section may have helped buoy her, and her resemblance to storied champ Steffi Graf couldn't have hurt. Bychkova ended her Open in the second round for the fourth straight year.

Today, John Koblin and I take a look at the USTA's pre-Open publicity tour, which featured a whole lot of James Blake...and not much else. It got us thinking about the state of American men's tennis, where, to paraphrase an obscure writer, something seems just a little bit rotten.

The "signature cocktail" at this year's U.S. Open is the Grey Goose Honey Deuce, which we earlier celebrated for its catchy name.

Well, it turns out that the Honey Deuce existed long before Grey Goose began selling itself as an essential component. In the drink's formative days, it was made with BELVEDERE VODKA.

Belvedere does not rhyme with Honey Deuce. 2008 is so much better than 2007.

I spoke with the lovely Anita Klaussen, wife (and editor!) of renowned tennis writer and commentator Bud Collins, while Bud signed copies of The Bud Collins History of Tennis at the USTA Bookstore. She bemoaned some of the typos which had crept into the book, saying, "We're going to keep trying until we get it right." And she showed off her earrings, which I thought might be homemade but are "from New Mexico, where I come from -- land of art!"

As the men's first round winds down and the women's second round gets underway, here are some matches we're looking out for today:

Novak Djokovic vs. Arnaud Clement

Djokovic is the last of the top 3 seeds in the men's draw to play his first round match. Clement is a journeyman, but he's a strong player, and there could be some good rallies.

Andy Roddick vs. Fabrice Santoro

This is a featured night match, and it will be a lot of fun. 35-year-old Santoro is known for his trick shots, and he also has a history of giving the big American men's players some trouble: at last year's Open, he took James Blake to five sets in the second round before Blake prevailed.  read more »

There have been a lot of questions at this year's Open about the state of American men's tennis. Asked where he expected the American game to be in five years, Vince Spadea, who lost in five sets to Marat Safin yesterday, said that there are always one or two players who rise above the rest. "So I think there's probably going to be one or two of those guys," he said. "I don't know. It could be maybe Querrey. He's got to do it soon. Maybe Young if he gets organized and focused. There's a couple of younger players, Harrison. I haven't really studied the young, young guys.  read more »

On the morning of Aug. 22, three days before the start of the U.S. Open, James Blake posed as a tennis star.

On a makeshift blue tennis court set up in the backyard of the Winter Garden in Lower Manhattan, Blake, the biracial darling of American men’s tennis, had just hosted a hit-around for Heineken. As a dozen people milled around waiting for the presentation of an oversize check for charity, Blake stood, unnoticed, near one of the courts, a racket still in hand, dressed casually in a pull-over gray long-sleeve shirt and 33-waist True Religion jeans.

It was the middle of a busy weekend.  read more »

Venus Williams cruised past Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-3, and Roger Federer had just as easy a time with Maximo Gonzalez, winning 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 on the second night of the 2008 U.S. Open.

Mardy Fish, one of a crop of promising young American players, also moved on to the second round, defeating Australian Robert Smeets, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. He will meet Paul-Henri Mathieu, who won in another four-setter with two early tiebreakers against fellow Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The weather today was perfect -- sunny and crisp -- and here's a rundown of some match result highlights:

-- Who says American men's tennis is dead?! Well, the Observer does (in tomorrow's paper), but perhaps we shouldn't jump to conclusions as Sam Querrey upset Czech Tomas Berdych (22) in straight sets.

-- Something of an upset as Tommy Haas, a three-time quarterfinalist here (including last year), defeated 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet in five sets, 6-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Gasquet was dragged down by an avalanche of unforced errors late in the match.

-- First-seeded Ana Ivanovic had something of a scare on the way to defeating Vera Dushevina in three sets.  read more »

Marat Safin was pushed to five sets by unseeded American Vince Spadea before winning, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Both players served dismally, but Safin's first serve was effective (when it went in) and he mixed up his game just enough, making a few devastating approaches to net.

The match was marked by Safin's trademark histrionics, including a walk off the court towards the end of the fourth set to protest some foot-fault calls with Brian Earley, the tournament's referee. He pulled it together, though, with a strong final set, and moves on to face Tommy Robredo, who advanced to the second round in straight sets.

Juvéderm Injectable Gel is to the U.S. Open what Scientology is to New York City subway stations.

Kathy Lampiasi, 25, is an aspiring actress who got her job at the Juvéderm booth (which has a prime location outside of Arthur Ashe Stadium) through her work with Accent Promotions. Asked how the product differs from Botox, the most famous of the "injectable fillers," she gestured to her own, wrinkle-free face. "Botox only does up here, between your eyebrows," she said, "and then Juvéderm does these ones, the parentheses around your mouth." Apparently Botox and Juvéderm are not competing products at all: "Botox is only made to work up there.  read more »

The signature cocktail of this year's Open is the Grey Goose Honey Deuce, which manages the impossible combo of rhyme and tennis reference.

Piero Andriola, bartending at one of the Grey Goose stands, said the drink contains "honeydews, Grey Goose vodka, lemonade, and a splash of Chambord." He said it's been quite popular.

A middle-aged woman sampling the Honey Deuce -- which is a prettier red color in person than the Long-Island-iced-tea-esque brown in the posters, and which comes in a commemorative glass cup -- said, "The Chambord taste really comes through -- it's a little berry-tasting. You can't even taste the alcohol."

17-year-old Brooklyn-raised wild-card qualifier Gail Brodsky impressed the crowd on Court 7, and had a set point in the first set, but never quite achieved the consistency to beat 13th-seed Agnes Szavay. Szavay ended up winning, 7-5, 6-3.

Brodsky earned her wild card by winning the 2008 USTA Girls’ 18s National Championship last weekend in Berkeley, California, and is currently ranked #387 in the world. She said the experience gave her "a whole lot of confidence" moving forward.

The U.S. Open is a blessedly hipster-free zone. The vendors here are Lacoste and Polo Ralph Lauren, not American Apparel or Brooklyn Industries. Hoodie sightings are rare. But, sometimes, one slips through.

Just a couple of miles down Roosevelt Avenue from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a couple of Elmhurst, Queens, residents warmed up against a backboard.

By beating Olivier Rochus in five closely fought sets (7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4), 24-year-old Ryler De Heart moves on to face Rafael Nadal in the second round.

Asked how he planned to put pressure on Nadal, De Heart was vague: "How do I beat Rafa? That's a very good question, I think. I mean, he's beatable. It's going to be a tall task, and I'm probably not, you know, the guy most people are expected to do that. I'm still going to go out there and do my best. I'm going to give it everything I have, and I think tactically there are some things I definitely can implement to try to give him trouble, and that's all you can do."

That's all you can do.

In an all-American first-round matchup under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 9th-seeded James Blake had to slog through five dramatic sets against the promising 19-year-old Donald Young before finally prevailing, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Blake's serve held strong and his net game remained impressive, though the number of unforced errors from both of these hard-hitting players was high. Young was able to dictate play and move ahead at key intervals, but ultimately Blake was just a bit more consistent, and he moves on to face Steve Karcis in the second round.

In the evening session's first match, Jelena Jankovic (2) beat American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets.

As the first day session of the 2008 U.S. Open draws to a close, here's a very short summary of what happened:

-- Rafael Nadal defeated a feisty Bjorn Phau in straight sets (but two tiebreakers) and experienced the downside of being the favorite: a stadium full of New Yorkers standing up and cheering for the underdog, who will always be the other guy.

-- After spending much of 2008 fighting a knee injury, Lindsay Davenport easily beat Aleksandra Wozniak in straight sets.

-- Top 10 Men: David Ferrer (seeded fourth), Andy Murray (seeded sixth), and David Nalbandian (seeded seventh) all won in straight sets.

-- Two top-ranked Russian women, Elena Dementieva (5) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (3), moved on in straight sets.

-- Something of an upset as 17-year-old Kei Nishikori moves past 29th-seed Juan Monaco in four well-fought sets. Nishikori had a painful leg cramp late in the match, but played through it.

First seed Rafael Nadal struggled early in his first-round match against German Bjorn Phau. The first set went to a tiebreaker, which Nadal won 7-4. Nadal went on to win the second set, and looked a bit more comfortable as the match progressed.

UPDATE: Nadal prevailed in straight sets, but not until after working through a second tiebreaker in the third set. He moves on to face the winner of the meeting of Ryler De Heart and Olivier Rochus.

The live music here on the grounds sometimes makes the tournament feel like an extremely elaborate tennis-themed Bar Mitzvah. There's the light jazz between Ashe and Armstrong Stadiums, and over by the stand where cute boys and girls spray you with Evian water, there's a just-as-light steel drum band.

The keyboardist doesn't seem to be feeling it.