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Andy moves closer to a higher level

Chang reflects on final match; Jen is one title closer to Open crown; Amelie, Ashley, Vera and Blake under the scope

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE US OPEN – Life was getting dicey for Andy Roddick down 4-5 and a break in the second set against Tim Henman, but his return game rose up to the stratosphere and for the third time in the game, he took yet another Henman powderpuff serve to his forehand and crushed it for a winner to break back.

In the second-set tiebreak, he cracked five forehand winners and bombed a 140-mph service winner. The Henman upset bid was done and the 20-year-old pogo sticked his way to a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory.

The Brit tried to pick on his weaker backhand all night, but by the second set, Roddick began to find the range with his backhand crosscourt pass and was actually more formidable in backhand exchanges than Henman. The Brit has a serviceable serve-and-volley game, but only against players who can't read him and only when he isn't popping in first serves into his foes' wheelhouses at 105-mph. He can chip, but he'll never go deep at a major again if he's floating slices or sending flat shots that fall three feet inside the baseline.

At times, he liked like a mechanical clown in a carnival game booth with Roddick shooting water straight into his mouth and sending his head upward and clanging against the bell. Andy took a huge step toward his first Slam crown on Tuesday night and he knows it.

"You have to try to get your mind to be positive," Roddick said of his draw. "If I would have said, 'Oh, crap, this is going to be terrible,' then I probably wouldn't have been ready to play. I said, 'Oh, God, this is terrible, but I want to win.' "

There will be a retirement ceremony on Wednesday night for Michael Chang, but in a sense, he already paid enough homage to himself with his gutsy performance in his 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 loss to
15th-seed Fernando Gonzalez in the first round. It was the last match Chang played and, even though it was obvious that he was the lesser player, he clawed and scrapped his way into contention, just like he did when wowed the crowds here back in 1996 and 1997.

He didn't tear up like Pete Sampras did Monday, but he was clearly affected by the loud round of applause he received.

"It was emotional for me,'' Chang said. "I tried to keep my mind on other things in order to be able to keep my composure out there. I really think if you walk away from the tour feeling like 'I should have done that and should have done that' and you have regrets and don't walk away with a smile, something's not right. … To get an ovation like that means a lot to me. It's special to know that people care about you."

Jen is one title closer to Open crown

What a difference a title has made to Jennifer Capriati.

Just a few days after she received to defaults from Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport and won her first title in 20 months at New Haven, she thinks she has the goods to win her first US Open title.

While she should immediately fire the designer who created her ill-fitting "Star-Spangled Jennifer" dress, she should thank her trainers for patching her pectoral muscle back together. She crushed Spain's Cristina Torrens Valero 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and was brimming with confidence.

"It's amazing how things turn around in my game when I'm feeling physically and mentally good," said Capriati. "I'm almost playing better now than (in 2001 and 2002). I'm serving better than I was back then. I have more experience. You just evolve and adapt over time. … Whether the Williamses are here or not, I always feel confident, like I have a chance to win a Grand Slam. Whoever takes this title will probably have an asterisk next to it, saying 'Oh, but the Williams sisters were not here.' But, I'll take that; no one will remember it in 10 years' time."

She may have served better against the Spaniard, but will have to do a whole lot better against Maria Sharapova, who was even more impressive in dismantling Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-1. She crushed 25 aces, cleanly painted the lines, hit the short angles well and had no trouble with the Ruano-Pasqual's change of pace. Who's returning better than Sharapova these days?

Maria played pretty in her pink dress and shrieked so loud during the second set that it was as if Eminem came to her junior prom. Jennifer will be the one grunting the loudest – in pain – if Sharapova is on her game this weekend.

Amelie, Ashley, Vera and Blake under the scope

Is fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo a real contender here, or just an aging, chronically injured player who is going to impressive early on with her athletic mix of serve-and-volley and booming groundies? If you had to list five players who could really win the title it would be the Belgians, Capriati, Mauresmo and Sharapova.

Mauresmo crushed countrywoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday and showed some of the form that brought her to last year's semis, where she nearly toppled Venus Williams but was outthought in the third set.

Although she isn't sure whether she can match up against Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin-Hardenne, but would love to find her game soon and rediscover herself in the second week.

"You don't have the secret, the magic key," Mauresmo said. "But sometimes you play well before a Grand Slam, and then not too good during that Grand Slam. Some other times, you don't play too much before, then you have energy, you have motivation, so you're out there and really wanting to do well. I just feel like I want to give it a try, give my best, try to be hundred percent on the court. … The most important thing is to be myself, think I can do well, and have some confidence."

American teen Ashley Harkleroad showed a lot of heart and legs in the first two sets of her 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 loss to the grittier Vera Zvonareva , but she simply doesn't have the weapons yet of a Top-20 player. Vera does and can absolutely murder the ball even from lousy positions on court. She's also in better shape and is a better thinker. Clijsters is going to have a hell of a scare from Vera should they clash in the fourth round.

Forget James Blake's run to the final in Long Island last week. He was much more impressive under the lights Wednesday night against erratic 27th-seed Mariano Zabaleta, who has never seen a big point he couldn't choke. Blake's shoulder appears healed as her served extremely well and was whipping his forehand. He'll get a chance to avenge his loss to Sargis Sargsian at Wimbledon on Friday. Guess who could be his third round foe? None other than Roger Federer. Ouch.

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