Andy Roddick scuffed his hand, scuffled with the chair umpire and barely shook hands with Rafael Nadal after defeating the Spaniard 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 Friday.
Roddick lost his concentration and a bit of his composure -- "Watch the damn ball!" he shouted at umpire Andreas Egli -- but still beat Nadal to reach the third round.
PHOTO: AFP
"There's something about a night session at the Open that kind of gets inside you a little bit," Roddick said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Serena Williams toned down her outfit, saying "an earring malfunction" was partly to blame. Her game also seemed a bit flat, though she beat 30th-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round.
Williams overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first set and won despite making 42 unforced errors. The two-time Open winner noticed that huge total on the big video screen at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
PHOTO: AP
"I was playing two opponents: her and myself," Williams said.
The other favored women also moved on, with No. 2 Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, No. 6 Elena Dementieva of Russia, No. 8 Jennifer Capriati, No. 10 Russian Vera Zvonareva and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland winning. So did No. 16 Italian Francesca Schiavone, who finished off popular American wild card Angela Haynes 6-3, 7-6 (3).
The men, however, had a much harder time.
Last year's runner-up, No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, was chased by Austria's Stefan Koubek 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3. Also losing were eighth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, a semifinalist last year, and No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean of France.
When No. 23 Vince Spadea fell to Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, only two US men were left -- Roddick and Andre Agassi. Never before had fewer than three Americans reached the Open's third round.
On Saturday, top seeds Roger Federer of Switzerland and Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium will be in action, along with Agassi, Lindsay Davenport, Russia's Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams.
Roddick tied his Open record with a 152mph serve, with one rocket catching Nadal in the lip and another that sent the teen tumbling.
Roddick skimmed his right hand when he slipped running cross court. He flexed it a few times later in the match, though he was able to grasp his racket just fine.
But Roddick lost his grip after an odd occurrence in the third set.
Roddick hit an overhand from the baseline and as he charged toward the net, an extra ball came tumbling out of his pocket and nicked him in the heel.
Egli took a moment before calling a let -- it was the right call -- but Roddick let the umpire have it.
"This is a horrible call," Roddick said. "What are you doing looking back there when I'm at the net?
"Either you're very bad or I'm underestimating your ability," he said.
Roddick later said he thought Egli should've made the call sooner. Roddick also was upset that the call came just as he was about to smash home a winner.
"I'm not going to hit that into the net, don't worry about it," he berated Egli.
Roddick was not the only one getting testy.
Usually composed, Ferrero knocked a ball out of the stadium and was penalized a point for yelling at an official.
Later, the Spaniard charged that chair umpires "do not treat all players the same."
"Maybe it's easy to say code violation [to me], and maybe to other big players, it's not the same, here in the United States. So I'm not happy with the chair umpire."
Tournament referee Brian Earley responded, "We stand behind the impartiality and consistency of our officiating, and wholeheartedly disagree with Mr. Ferrero's statement to the contrary."
Meanwhile, Chile's Nicolas Massu was fined US$1,000 for equipment abuse a day after throwing a tantrum. The Olympic double gold medalist slammed his racket in a loss to Sargis Sargsian that took 5 hours, 9 minutes -- the second-longest match in Open history.
Also, Taylor Dent was fined US$1,500 for swearing in a loss to Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Capriati took a minute or so longer than she expected to beat Russian teen Vera Douchevina 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Capriati thought she'd gotten a match point when a shot by Douchevina looked long. But when the chair umpire disagreed, Capriati dropped her racket and walked over to discuss it.
In general, Capriati questioned the on-court calls.
"Even from watching other matches, they haven't been too good," she said. "This level of the game, when it's so close, and one or two shots can make a difference, I don't think it's fair."
Angela Haynes got what she wanted at the US Open. Sort of, anyway.
The 19-year-old US wild card made it to the biggest stage at Flushing Meadows when her match on Friday was shifted from Louis Armstrong Stadium to Arthur Ashe Stadium. Once there, she lost in the third round to 16th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Haynes found out about 90 minutes before the match that she was moving, and said she had plenty of time to get ready.
Then she walked onto the feature court and looked around.
"This is my first time on Arthur Ashe, so it was a lot going on for me," she said. "Yeah, just real excited, kind of nervous. But what can I do?
"The crowd and the whole ambiance, being out there in front of all the people, being on TV, people counting on you," she said. "I mean, I think I was the favorite. I sounded like I was."
Haynes drew plenty of support with her early run in the tournament, and she had her chances in this match. But in the second set, she lost after holding a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker.
Schiavone startled her younger opponent by hitting a return through her legs.
"She shocked me with that one," Haynes said.
Haynes grew up in Compton, California and knew the Williams sisters when they were kids. She was one of a record four black women to reach the third round, joining Serena, Venus and Chanda Rubin.
HAPPY TO BE HERE
There was a time when Corina Morariu was the No. 1 women's doubles player in the world. She came into this US Open ranked 45th -- and insists she's having much more fun playing these days.
"I walk out there and it's like, `uh, well, it's a tennis match.' I probably minimize it more than I should," she said.
Then again, she's got a good reason to put things in perspective. In May 2001, she was diagnosed with leukemia and went through chemotherapy treatments.
"I've been as far gone as you can be without dying," she said. "I was blessed with a second chance to live."
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