CHANGE OF VENUE: World No. 1 Dinara Safina was less than pleased when her match, scheduled for Ashe Stadium, was moved to Armstrong Stadium. Said the Russian, who lost to Petra Kvitova, “I think it’s very unfair to choose [the] best player in the world, to put on Armstrong. I don’t think it’s a fair decision they made…I feel that it is just very unfair how they did this, to both of us. I mean, just let us know. We are human beings.”
DIALOGUE OF THE MONTH:
Reporter: Would it be a relief if you weren’t No. 1 after this tournament?
Dinara Safina: “How can you be relief if you lose the spot No. 1 in the world, your dream?”
WORD FROM LUPICA: Columnist Mike Lupica called Saturday (Oudin Upsets Sharapova, Isner takes out Roddick, Kvitova topples No. 1 Safina, etc.) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center “one of the best days the place has ever known.”
TWO BLONDES PASSING IN THE NIGHT: Post reporter Marc Berman said Saturday’s USO action “could be about two blondes passing in the night — Oudin moving forward, Sharapova backward.”
TWEET OF THE DAY: “Ughhhh i was eating before my match and a looooonnnnngggghh hair was in my food!!!! Ahhhhhhhh soooo gross!!!!!” — Serena Williams
WILL JCAP RETURN?: 33-year-old Jennifer Capriati, who hasn’t played a match since ’04, will undergo another round of surgery. No word on a comeback.
LOST IN TRANSLATION: The chopsticks in the USTA Media Center cafeteria are packaged with the following message: “Welcome to Chinese Restaurant. Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks the traditional and typical of Chinese glorious history and cultural.”
CROWNING MOMENT: Mary Carillo described the design on the back of Venus Williams‘ self-designed pink dress as “some kind of crown situation.”
HEADLINES
Game, Upsets, Match
Oud-standing!
Teen Queen Bursts Onto the Scene
Into the Sweet 16 & She’s Only 17!
Night Falls, and So Do Roddick and Safina
Andy’s Open Shut
Decked
THE NUMBERS
27-5: Kim Clijsters‘ career mark at the U.S. Open
5:58 p.m.: Time that CBS dropped its Saturday coverage, meaning that millions of would-be viewers missed one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Open history — John Isner‘s five-set shocker over Andy Roddick
71: Winners for Robin Soderling in his 6-2, 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1 third-round win over Sam Querrey
1: American man left in the USO draw — John Isner (who would have guessed?)
QUOTEBOOK
“In our memory, Andy Roddick will always be serving from behind this summer, bearing down to save his competitive life, scrambling to the top of a ladder only to have it teeter, sway and fall backward.” — Bonnie Ford
“Big John Isner, who blocks out the sun, created maybe the darkest night in Andy Roddick‘s career.” — Jay Greenberg
She’s a real big fighter and she never gives up.” — Serena Williams on Melanie Oudin
“When competitors described him, they inevitably turned to the same word — rage —to explain the way he played. Rage covered everything. Like the way Gonzalez swatted at the microphones of chair umpires. Or the balls he struck toward reporters to quiet the click-clacking of their typewriters. Or the time he turned to a struggling doubles partner and said, ‘Why don’t you volley like a man?'” — Greg Bishop on Pancho Gonzalez
“Hands down, the biggest win of my career.” — John Isner on his third-round upset of pal Andy Roddick
“The hair was kind of standing up on the back of my neck.” — John Isner on the atmosphere in Ashe Stadium
“You can’t really teach 6-foot-9.” — Andy Roddick on the towering John Isner
“It’s not happening too often this year.” — Dinara Safina on playing with a relaxed mindset
“I remember every moment, every match I played that year. Usually I can’t remember who I played last year, but I remember every one of 10 years ago.” — Serena Williams on her ’99 U.S. Open title
“Today I am vicious and I was ambitious.” — Serena Williams after straight-setting Daniela Hantuchova in the fourth round
