NO ROOM AT THE INN: Roger Federer is safely ensconced in his two bedroom, $3,050-a-night suite at the very upscale Carlyle hotel on Madison Ave. Jesse Witten, early in his run at the Open, crowded his college buddies into his Waldorf Astoria room. But when first-time Slam quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin‘s reservations expired at the Marriott Marquis, the 17-year-old phenom was forced to relocate to the Intercontinental. Said her coach, Brian de Villiers, “They wanted double. I wouldn’t pay it.”
SO CLOSE YET SO FAR: The Bryan Bros. climbed out from under a 5-0 deficit in the decisive third set breaker against Leander Paes/Lukas Dlouhy in the semis U.S. Open only to fall 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6). Ouch. (But the twins did have a nice run in New York, with BIG articles in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, and an appearance on 60 Minutes.)
KISS AND TELL: A man came out of the stands and embraced Rafael Nadal during his match against Gael Monfils. But Rafa wasn’t fazed. Said Nadal, “The guy was really nice. He was a great fan. He said, ‘I love you,’ and he kiss me.”
AS IN THE TENNIS BALL?: Of new mom Kim Clijsters‘ success at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams said, “I was thinking that maybe I should have a baby and then I’ll come back faster.” A reporter then asked Williams what she would name her baby, to which the world No. 2 replied, “Wilson.” (Which stirred memories of Tom Hanks in Cast Away, in which a nicknames his only pal — a volleyball – Wilson.)
CURIOUS QUESTION (ERR, SELF PROMOTION) OF THE DAY: “My name is Angela Buxton, and I’ve written a book called 303 Tips For Successful Tennis Players, together with a Serbian tennis coach called Nesa Simic, who I believe you might know. It is due for publication, which includes Serbia as well as worldwide early next year. As the leading Serbian tennis player, I would be very grateful if you could say something encouraging to young Serbian players and worldwide that would encourage them that could be used in the book.” – Angela Buxton to Novak Djokovic
LOSING A PARENT: Three prominent Belgian players — Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Yannia Wickmayer — all lost parents to cancer at a young age.
FOR THE VICTIMS OF 9/11: Novak Djokovic has been hosting families directly affected by 9/11 in his Friends Box.
GREAT DANE: There haven’t been that many great Danes. Torben Ulrich was one of the greatest free spirits in the history of an often straight-laced game. Kurt Nielsen reached the ’53 Wimbledon final before losing to Vic Seixas and, more recently, Kristian Pless and Kenneth Carlsen were fine journeyman players. But Caroline Wozniacki is now into the USO semis.
DAN QUAYLE IS ALIVE AND WELL: When Pam Shriver asked Melanie Oudin‘s freckle-faced sister Christina to spell B-E-L-I-E-V-E, sadly she blew it, switching the “i” and “e.”
STRESS TEST: Melanie Oudin‘s coach, Brian De Villiers, told the Miami Herald that his prize pupil always loses the first set “just to annoy me and stress me out.”
THE NUMBERS
2: Unseeded women’s semifinalists — Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer — the most in U.S. Open history.
1: Night match ever played by Melanie Oudin, Wednesday night’s quarterfinal loss to Caroline Wozniacki.
14: Years since Ivan Lendl (who reached eight straight U.S. Open finals) says he last picked up a tennis racket.
22: Straight semis at majors for Roger Federer — a record.
HEADLINES
Brit-ter Ending
It’s Kim-Possible
Mr. Cool and Collected Was Once a Brat
No Miracles Left
Ou-Done
QUOTEBOOK
“Some of us find it hard to commit to a men’s match that may take four or five sets, three or four hours. (Then again, I feel the same way about American football games, and Yankees baseball games. Who has that kind of time?)” — George Vecsey
“I don’t want to sound cocky, but Melanie reminds me of me.” — ’79 and ’81 U.S. Open champ Tracy Austin on Melanie Oudin
“She acts very mature on the court but she is very much a kid.” — Mary Joe Fernandez on Melanie Oudin
“Luckily I don’t own a gun or I would have been dead 2 hours ago. Might go check out the Empire State Building later…maybe I can jump off?” — Tweet from Bob Bryan after the twins dropped their USO doubles semifinal
“He just gave everything up for me.” — Yanina Wickmayer on her father, Marc
“In this moment we have no reason to talk about sad things.” — Novak Djokovic
“You can never get your game to the perfection, you know. Only if you’re Federer.” — Novak Djokovic
