Upsets in Flushing

As the U.S. Open began its run this year, I realized it is the first time I can really enjoy the tournament, without the stress of the looming school year ahead. It's a nice feeling to look forward to Labor Day as a day off, rather than the end of summer and the start of classes.

I have kept up with the match results pretty well this year, and I have watched as much tennis as I can. Yesterday, I watched a great three-set battle between the No. 29 player and former Open champion, Maria Sharapova, and the 17-year-old Melanie Oudin.

After reading various articles about how American tennis players are scarce, other than the obvious dominant Williams sisters and Andy Roddick, the young teen from Georgia seems to have given the nation some hope. Before her third round match with Sharapova, Oudin upset No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva by a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 score.

I was cheering for Oudin from the start in her match against the 6' 2" Russian. Oudin resembles her hero Justine Henin-Hardenne with her petite stature, but that didn't stop her from playing smart tennis.

Marathon match
The nearly three-hour marathon match was a great one to watch. I was very into it, as my family could tell by hearing my shrieks and shouts at the television set. Points were long and capped with exciting winners. Oudin was thrilling to watch with her fist-pumps and "c'mon's" after her winning points.

A seemingly pivotal time in the match came when the young American was up 3-1 in the third set on Sharapova. Oudin had five break chances to extend her lead to a commanding 4-1 in the decisive set. As the two rallied back and forth between deuce points, my shouts grew louder and more frustrated as Oudin just couldn't quite finish off the game.

Sharapova finally prevailed to narrow the score at 3-2, and then she proceeded to call for the trainer on the changeover. It was dubbed a "veteran move" from commentator and tennis legend John McEnroe. After the lengthy delay, neither player seemed too worse for the wear.

The final set was quite interesting with many service breaks. I was just hoping Oudin could pull off the upset instead of blow a big lead like the ranking match-up might suggest. She managed to finally seal the victory before her opponent could force a tie-breaker.

The crowd was certainly cheering for Oudin, and she acknowledged them in her post-match interview, in between a few stray tears. She deserved to be commended for her great play, and her cinderella story that was quickly unfolding.

Of course, Sharapova's stats for the day cannot go unmentioned. She committed a U.S. Open record 21 double faults, which is enough to hand an opponent five-plus games. She also rang up 63 unforced errors, 19 more than her victorious opponent. These two glaring numbers will not leave a good taste in her mouth, that's for sure.

Now Oudin is on to the next round to face, for the first time ever, No. 13 Nadia Petrova. She has gained a lot of publicity with her current run, and no doubt a lot of fan support in her home country.

Elsewhere on the courts
Many were hoping American favorite Roddick, ranked No. 5, would be able to reach the finals after his near-miss championship at Wimbledon earlier this summer. But unfortunately his time in New York ended with a five-set loss to fellow American John Isner. Roddick played catch-up by winning the third and fourth sets, before losing in a final-set tie breaker. (7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6)

Venus Williams and Belgium's Kim Clijsters (back from a two-year maternity leave) faced each other on Sunday in what turned out to be an interesting match. Clijsters quickly gave her slow-starting opponent a bagel in the first set. But Williams responded with a 6-0 set of her own to get back to even.

The one-sided sets led to a more competitive final set. Clijsters, as the wild card, was able to snatch the win over the No. 3-seeded Williams with a 6-4 third set. Another upset on the women's side was complete. One Williams sister was out, and another underdog was through to the next round.

No. 1 seed Dinara Safina was finally taken out of her disasterous tournament run. She moved through the first two rounds, but it came at the price of three sets and poor play on her part. She lost in the third round to Petra Kvitova. Her early exit proves that the ranking system is not very accurate. Then again, with all the upsets on the women's side, who knows how it will shuffle the player rankings.