Horseshoes, Hand Grenades... and Roddick?

A day after top-seeded Rafael Nadal was tested by Sam Querrey, the tightrope walking became contagious on Ashe Stadium Court as in back-to-back matches both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer's Open prospects seemed on the verge of going down in flames.

In the end, the person smiling the most might turn out to be Andy Roddick.

During the hot afternoon, #3-seed Djokovic followed up his 3rd Round match with Marin Cilic, in which the young Croat matched him shot for shot, by having to fight into a 5th set against #15 Tommy Robredo. Battling fatigue, illness and multiple injuries, Djokovic seemed to be channeling another chaotic Serb as he muddled through and found a way to advance by a score of 4-6/6-2/6-3/5-7/6-3 after 3:44 on the court. But the victory comes with a price, as it potentially leaves him as less a threat to win this tournament than he had been at the start of the day.

In the next match, #2-seed Roger Federer drifted from vulnerable to dominating and back again, then back the other way again during his own five-setter against Igor Andreev. Just when it looked as if he'd assert himself and take control of the match, he'd start making very un-Federer-like errors and Andreev would come storming back.

In the final set, Federer took a quick lead and it seemed as if he'd finally make quick work of the Russian. He ultimately won 6-7/7-6/6-3/3-6/6-3 in 3:32 to extend his U.S. Open winning streak to 31 matches, but he had to save four break points at 4-2 in the final set, aggressively rushing the net far more often than usual in order to fight his way out of the corner. The way Federer's play was bouncing off the walls, allowing the push-and-pull contest to get back on serve in the deciding stanza might have been the difference between winning and losing the entire match.

So it was all a case of close only counting in horseshoes and hand grenades for Robredo and Andreev.

By the time the dust had settled, all the dancing on the head of a pin hadn't actually resulted in any big upsets (#5 Nikolay Davydenko being ousted by Gilles Muller, the second qualifier to reach the QF in the Open Era, doesn't count), but it sure left a slew of limping, dragging and extremely questionable men still playing in the bottom half of the draw... along with Roddick.

With two back-to-back marathons, the day session lasted until nearly 8:30pm. Roddick took the court less than an hour later, and was off it in about 87 minutes after a thorough beating of Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-2/6-4/6-1.

After escaping his own tight predicament against Ernests Gulbis a few matches ago, Roddick has been nearly untouchable. He hasn't been pushed, and he's played mostly at night, out of the energy-sapping sun that nearly cut Djokovic down to size today. He'll face the Serb next, and he's surely the fresher of the two. If he wins there, he might get Federer in the SF. In the past, it'd be a fait accompli that Roddick would go down with only a modicum of fight. But no longer.

Roddick's already beaten Federer, or at least the aura-sapped, half-step slow being who's been going by that name ever since the real former #1 came down with mono at the start of the season, this year. And the inconsistency that Federer showed today surely leaves open the possibility that the Deposed King Roger might be ripe to be conquered yet again.

For maybe the first time in half a decade, Roddick, who looks to be getting better with each match in New York, might have timing and the luck of the draw on his side.

But does he remember how to take full advantage of it?





All for now.



TOMORROW: Backspin Time Capsule: 1991 U.S. Open

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