U.S. Open Capsules: Federer beats the heat, Beck; Soderling looms
NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Federer is one cool customer.
The temperature climbed into the 90s yet again Thursday at Flushing Meadows, and the guy showed up for work wearing a warmup jacket. Then he put in his 1 hour, 41 minutes on court, dismissing 104th-ranked Andreas Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 with the help of 15 aces, to ease into the third round of the U.S. Open.
"It's about just saving your energy for the really big match coming up, maybe the next one," Federer said, perhaps mindful that he was pushed to five sets in the opening round at Wimbledon in June before eventually losing in the quarterfinals at a second consecutive major tournament.
He dropped all of seven games in the first round of the U.S. Open, and the owner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles is feeling pretty good about things at the moment.
"It's the perfect start, sure. I played Monday; had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I'm completely in the tournament," said Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champion and the only man left in the field who has won it.
"I got a sense for how the court speed is again. I got the sense of the crowd and the wind now, as well. I played one night, one day," he continued. "I have all the answers after two matches."
In other words: Let everyone else sweat it out.
Like Kei Nishikori, the 147th-ranked qualifier from Japan, who fought cramps in his racket-holding right hand and elsewhere while taking a minute shy of five hours to wrap up a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over 11th-seeded Marin Cilic.
"It was very humid. It wasn't easy to get the oxygen," said Cilic, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year, and an Australian Open semifinalist in January.
The 20-year-old Nishikori began feeling his muscles tighten in the second set but didn't really begin worrying until after trailing 2-1 in sets.
"I was thinking about it in fourth set, mostly: 'Even if I win this, I have to play one more set. It's not going to be easy for me, you know, cramping,'" said Nishikori, who reached the fourth round two years ago, the first Japanese man since 1937 to get that far at the U.S. Open. "But I was able to fight through."
His was one of a handful of upsets on Day 4 of a tournament that is quickly accumulating surprises. Beatrice Capra, an 18-year-old from Ellicott City, Md., made like 2009 U.S. Open darling Melanie Oudin and ousted No. 18-seeded Aravane Rezai of France 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Peng Shuai, and No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez lost to Patty Schnyder. Seeded winners included 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva. Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, like Federer, didn't waste any time on court, blanking 84th-ranked Chang Kai-chen 6-0, 6-0.
At 371st, Capra is the lowest-ranked woman left. She's also the youngest — and not only is she making her Grand Slam debut, she's playing in the main draw of a tour-level event for the first time. She said she "watched every second" as Oudin, then 17, reached the quarterfinals 12 months ago.
"I really look up to Melanie," said Capra, who earned a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association by winning an eight-entrant playoff. "You know, it was really inspiring to me."
One of the women Oudin knocked off in 2009, three-time major champion Maria Sharapova, awaits Capra in the third round. Wearing tuxedo lapels on her deep purple night-match dress, Sharapova beat 68th-ranked Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 under the lights.
"When I was younger, I used to always look up to her," Capra said about 2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova, who is all of 23 now, "and so I think it will be a really good match for me to see where I am compared to that kind of level."
Asked what she knows about Capra, the 14th-seeded Sharapova said: "Not too much. I know that she's American, and she's 18, I believe, and she's in the third round of the Open, so that says a lot."
Sharapova was followed into Arthur Ashe Stadium by 2008 Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, whose 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany was interrupted briefly in the eighth game while police escorted out three spectators after a fight in the upper deck.
Djokovic made it to at least the semifinals in New York each of the past three years — and lost to Federer each time.
Among those winning in the afternoon were Richard Gasquet, a former top-10 player who eliminated No. 6-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Robin Soderling, a two-time French Open runner-up who beat American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4; and South Africa's Kevin Anderson, who outlasted No. 26 Thomaz Bellucci 6-7 (4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Americans Mardy Fish and James Blake won, as did No. 13 Jurgen Melzer, No. 21 Albert Montanes, and No. 22 Juan Carlos Ferrero. Blake, a wild-card entry, will take on No. 3 Djokovic in the third round.
The No. 5-seeded Soderling's next opponent will be 48th-ranked Thiemo de Bakker, who advanced Thursday when Ivan Dodig quit in the fourth set because of cramping.
Soderling-Dent was in the third set during Federer's postmatch news conference. And Federer — whose loss to Soderling in the French Open quarterfinals this year ended a record streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances — kept glancing at the flat-screen TV on the wall to his right, surely aware that he could meet the Swede again in that round next week.
Federer has won 42 of his past 43 matches at Flushing Meadows, the only loss coming in last year's final to Juan Martin del Potro, who didn't defend his title after wrist surgery. With Andy Roddick's exit in the second round Wednesday night, and Lleyton Hewitt's departure in the first, Federer is the only previous winner of the U.S. Open left in the men's field.
"It's definitely an advantage, I would think, because (of) the conditions here," Federer said. "You could be unlucky and get hit with a really hot day or a very windy day, and not even in your control, sometimes, you lose a match here. That's where it's important, like today, to get through easily, instead of maybe going (through a) five-hour match."
Tell that to Nishikori.
U.S. teen Capra upsets Rezai, plays Sharapova next
NEW YORK (AP) — A year ago at the U.S. Open, American teenager Melanie Oudin told the world to "BELIEVE," with her sneakers and her play.
Among those she motivated: Beatrice Capra, an 18-year-old from Ellicott City, Md., and a wild-card entry who is following in Oudin's footsteps at Flushing Meadows, albeit without any mottos on her shoes.
Making her Grand Slam debut — indeed, playing in the main draw of any tour-level event for the first time — the 371st-ranked Capra upset 18th-seeded Aravane Rezai of France 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 Thursday to reach the third round of the U.S. Open.
Capra, who trains at the Evert Academy in Florida, is the youngest and lowest-ranked player left in the women's field. She knows Oudin from the junior ranks and paid close attention in 2009, when a 17-year-old Oudin knocked off three-time major champion Maria Sharapova en route to the quarterfinals.
"I really look up to Melanie. I watched all of her matches last year, and I was just so happy for her. You know, it was really inspiring to me, because I played her a year before, and then she was getting to the quarters of a Grand Slam," Capra said. "You know, I think she's pushed all of the Americans to do better."
Capra beat 95th-ranked Karolina Sprem in the opening round and after getting past Rezai, next will face — yep, you guessed it — 2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova.
"When I was younger," Capra said earnestly, "I used to always look up to her."
She's never met the 23-year-old Sharapova, but now will be sharing a court with her. The 14th-seeded Sharapova reached the third round by beating 68th-ranked Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday night.
"If (Capra) wants to know, I'll definitely let her know what I think about it," said Oudin, who won her doubles match Thursday. "Especially if she plays Sharapova, I'd tell her how I thought I beat her last year."
Sharapova was asked in her postmatch, on-court interview about playing Capra.
"That's the great thing about the U.S. Open," said Sharapova, who represents Russia but moved to Florida as a kid. "To see young Americans doing well."
After losing in the second round of singles Wednesday, Oudin spoke about being a "tiny bit relieved" about the prospect of distancing herself from the expectations and spotlight that accompanied last year's surprising run in New York.
Now Oudin is keeping tabs on Capra, who goes by the nickname Trice, pronounced "Tree-See."
"I'm really, really happy that she's done well," said Oudin, who is about 6½ months older. "For me, especially, I'm, like, great with the other American girls doing well, because she can take some of the stuff away from me. With her doing well, there can be more of us for people to pay more attention to, instead of, like, just me. The past year, it's been mainly on me."
Indeed, on Thursday, it was Capra whose news conference began with a reporter saying, "Congratulations, and tell us your life story, please."
It was Capra who was followed out of the main interview room by a pack of media members that essentially ignored the next player due to speak, No. 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.
It was Capra who was introduced to TV viewers during an appearance on the ESPN2 set.
It was Capra whose coach wanted to know whether she still plans on competing in the junior girls' tournament (the answer: yes, for now).
It was Capra who was asked whether she has anything inscribed on her shoes, the way Oudin did in 2009 and 2010, with "COURAGE" replacing "BELIEVE."
Twelve months ago, Capra was playing in the junior U.S. Open and hoping one day to play in the main event. Now she's doing just that — and winning. And it almost didn't happen. Two weeks ago, she lost at the girls' 18s USTA national championships, which awards a U.S. Open wild card to the winner.
So Capra went home to Maryland, figuring she would "calm down and chill with my family," and wait till next year to play in a Grand Slam tournament's main draw. But then she got a phone call from the U.S. Tennis Association, inviting her to go to Florida for an eight-player playoff for one wild card — and she won that.
"I was pretty excited," Capra said Thursday, "but I never would have thought I would be in the third round here."
Yet there she was, toppling Rezai, who made 49 unforced errors and wasn't exactly heaping praise on Capra afterward.
"The match depends on me, because I did a lot of errors," Rezai said. "She did nothing very exceptional. Not many winners. A lot of lucky balls on the line."
Perhaps. But it's Capra, not Rezai, who is still competing at the U.S. Open.
Sharapova was asked what she knows about her next opponent.
"Not too much. I know that she's American, and she's 18, I believe," Sharapova responded, "and she's in the third round of the Open, so that says a lot."
-- Howard Fendrich
Notebook: Chang feels the pain of a lopsided loss
NEW YORK (AP) — Play enough tennis and it's bound to happen. The double-bagel loss.
Chang Kai-chen advanced in the U.S. Open and wound up with a difficult matchup in the second round — top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, the woman Chang calls "a wall."
Indeed, everything came back during 47 ugly minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Chang found herself on the wrong end of the worst kind of defeat — 6-0, 6-0.
"I'm pretty disappointed, but not embarrassed," Chang said. "I know it's in front of a lot of people and on TV and stuff. But things happen."
Wozniacki, a finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, won 52 points to 24 for Chang, but the most telling numbers were these: Wozniacki won despite only hitting seven winners. She also made only 12 unforced errors.
"She just doesn't give up many points or make many mistakes," Chang said. "She's a wall."
Lest she feel too bad, she should know that Wozniacki has lost a grand total of two games in her first two matches.
"I've been playing really great tennis," Wozniacki said. "I'm feeling good, so no worries."
Chang figured she shouldn't worry about it too much, either. Best to simply put it behind her. Her mother came over from Taiwan to share in the U.S. Open experience.
"She saw a pretty ugly match," Chang said, "but I'm happy she's here with me."
WHAT HAPPENED? Richard Gasquet's convincing win over No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko left some people wondering if the winner was really that good, or the loser was really that bad.
Davydenko knew where he stood.
"I didn't play so good, so I can't even tell you how he played," the Russian said after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss that was stunning mostly because of its thoroughness.
Gasquet appears to be rounding back into the form he was at in 2007, when he reached the world's top 10. Last year, though, he gained notoriety when he was suspended for 2½ months after testing positive for cocaine — a penalty he successfully appealed when he said the drug inadvertently entered his system when he kissed a woman at a nightclub.
He slid out of the top 50, but this year has returned to No. 38, in part thanks to a tournament win in Nice for his first title since 2007.
Some statistics might help solve the mystery: Gasquet hit 30 winners against 21 unforced errors while Davydenko had 23 winners and 32 unforced errors.
"All he had to do was hit the ball back to me a few times and I make a mistake and he wins the point," Davydenko said.
The Russian complained about his rackets, his strings, the weather. He missed 11 weeks earlier this year after breaking his left wrist, but said his problems went deeper than that.
"I don't know if it's the problem is with my wrist, or the problem is with my head," he said.
FIVE IN FIVE: The third straight day of extreme heat had the biggest impact on Kei Nishikori and No. 11 Marin Cilic, who needed one minute short of five hours to grind through their five-set match — a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 win for Nishikori.
With temperatures in the mid-90s, both players started cramping about two or three hours into the match. Both called for trainers, took breaks whenever they could. Both were walking gingerly when the match was over.
"I was thinking about it in the fourth set, mostly," Nishikori said. "Even if I win this, I have to play one more set. It's not going to be easy for me, with the cramping. But I was able to fight through, yeah."
Cilic took a break down 4-1 in the final set to have a trainer work on his back. It was more for some rest time than anything. By then, he said his legs were cramping and he couldn't move much, though the thought of quitting never crossed his mind.
The good part is he won't have to go back out there. The bad part is he worked that hard and lost.
"It's not easy to accept that you stayed on court for five hours, had chances and then you're done," said Cilic, a quarterfinalist at last year's Open. "It was physically very tough. The conditions were really tough. It was hot and it was very humid and it wasn't easy to get the oxygen."
-- Eddie Pells
Azarenka out of doubles after collapsing at Open
NEW YORK (AP) — One day after Victoria Azarenka collapsed on court during a singles match at the U.S. Open, she and partner Dinara Safina pulled out of women's doubles.
Azarenka and Safina originally were scheduled to face the ninth-seeded pair of Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova in the first round of doubles Thursday. But the tournament said Black and Rodionova instead would play Alberta Brianti and Urszula Radwanska.
On Wednesday, Azarenka, a 21-year-old seeded 10th in singles, stopped playing in the first set of her second-round match when she staggered and fell down. She was taken away in a wheelchair, then went to a hospital for tests, which showed she had a mild concussion.
Azarenka said she banged her head in a fall at the gym before the match.
Altercation leads to brief delay at U.S. Open
NEW YORK (AP) — Police have escorted three fans out of Arthur Ashe Stadium after a fight in the upper stands that caused a short delay in Novak Djokovic's match against Philipp Petzschner at the U.S. Open.
U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier says it was a "disagreement over verbiage," that took place Thursday night during the first set of the second-round match.
Third-seeded Djokovic and Petzschner stopped playing and looked up into the stands while New York police handcuffed the fans and led them out. Nobody was hurt. It was the kind of scene more common at a baseball or football game than a tennis match.
Widmaier said: "It was a hot night in New York. Things happen."
U.S. Open Glance
NEW YORK (AP) — A look at Thursday's play at the $22.7 million U.S. Open tennis championships:
WEATHER: Mixed sun and clouds, quite breezy and continued hot. High of 95.
ATTENDANCE: Day: 37,138. Night: 23,815. Total: 60,953
MEN'S SEEDED WINNERS: Second Round: No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 Robin Soderling, No. 13 Jurgen Melzer, No. 19 Mardy Fish, No. 21 Albert Montanes and No. 22 Juan Carlos Ferrero.
MEN'S SEEDED LOSERS: No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 11 Marin Cilic and No. 26 Thomaz Bellucci..
WOMEN'S SEEDED WINNERS: Second Round: No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, No. 7 Vera Zvonareva, No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 14 Maria Sharapova, No. 15 Yanina Wickmayer, No. 23 Maria Kirilenko, No. 25 Alexandra Dulgheru and No. 31 Kaia Kanepi.
WOMEN'S SEEDED LOSERS: No. 9 Agnieszka Radwnaska, No. 18 Aravane Rezai and No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
TOP PLAYERS ON COURT FRIDAY: Men, Second Round: No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. Denis Istomin, No. 4 Andy Murray vs. Dustin Brown, No. 18 John Isner vs. Marco Chiudinelli. Women, Third Round: No. 2 Kim Clijsters vs. Petra Kvitova (27), No. 3 Venus Williams vs. Mandy Minella, No. 5 Sam Stosur vs. Sara Errani, No. 12 Elena Dementieva vs. No. 24 Daniela Hantuchova.
STAT OF THE DAY: Caroline Wozniacki has lost a total of two games in her two matches.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't know if it's the problems with my wrist, or the problem with my head." — Nikolay Davydenko, on his loss to Richard Gasquet.
FRIDAY ON TV (All Times EDT): Tennis Channel, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (live), 11 p.m.-midnight (highlights); ESPN2, 1-7 p.m. (live), 7-11 p.m. (live)
ON THIS DATE: Sept. 3, 1989: Chris Evert wins for the last time at the U.S. Open, defeating 15-year-old Monica Seles 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth round.
