Flushing Meadows shook with an explosion of deafening roars on Saturday as US sensations John Isner and Melanie Oudin sent former champions Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova spinning out of the US Open.
On a day when Russian world No. 1 Dinara Safina’s luck and patience finally ran out, Isner and Oudin sparked off celebrations in their hometown of Georgia after showing off their “bulldog” spirit to full effect.
Big-serving Roddick came face-to-face with a 2.06m player he had mentored up the ranks and by way of thanks Isner boomed in 38 aces to trample the fifth seed 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6.
PHOTO: AFP
While 55th-ranked Isner was delighted to pull off the biggest shock of the men’s draw, Oudin followed up her win over world No. 4 Elena Dementieva by thumping another Russian.
The 17-year-old Oudin had the honor of ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ exchange earlier this week and her stock rose even higher on Saturday as she carved out a heart-pounding 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 third-round win over 29th seed Sharapova.
“She’s so gutsy,” Isner said of Oudin. “She plays with her heart out there. We really kind of have the same attributes. We got a little Bulldog in us. We fight really well.”
Safina is also famed for her fighting spirit and on many occasions has come from match point down to stifle her opponents.
But on Saturday, 72nd-ranked Czech teenager Petra Kvitova took a leaf out of Safina’s Houdini manual and saved three match points before stamping her mark in New York with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 win as the clock struck 12.47am.
As the women’s field continued to be decimated — with no seed left in the top quarter — Isner finally burst the bubble in the men’s draw, as until his win over Roddick, it looked as if all 16 top seeds could reach the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.
Earlier, five-time champion Roger Federer and world No. 4 Novak Djokovic led a parade of seeds — Nikolay Davydenko (8), Fernando Verdasco (10), Robin Soderling (12), Tommy Robredo (14) and Radek Stepanek (15) — into the second week of the hardcourt major.
Federer, seeking a 16th major, came into the match riding on a 13-match winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt but had to snap himself out of a lull to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Federer and Hewitt are two of just three fathers ranked in world’s top 50 and it was the Swiss who was caught napping in the opening set.
“Looks like he slept in the same room as the (six-week-old) twins last night,” John McEnroe quipped.
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