Five Things To Watch for This Weekend

As the first weekend of the U.S. Open begins, Roger Federer fights on, Venus and Serena Williams move closer to a quarterfinal meeting, Andy Roddick takes on one of the most talented youngsters in the sport, and history has been made: the no. 1 women’s seed, Ana Ivanovic, lost earlier than any other no. 1 seed in the Open Era. Here are five things to look for at the tournament this Labor Day weekend.A goodbye? Lindsay Davenport, the 32-year-old American tennis icon, might play her last U.S. Open match this weekend. Davenport, who has a 1-year-old son, hasn’t announced her retirement plans, but she has struggled with injuries this year and likely won’t travel the tour for more than a year at most.Davenport might not receive the same treatment as Andre Agassi did here two years ago, but she is just as deserving of praise. This is Davenport’s 17th appearance at the U.S. Open — she has missed it once since 1991, when she was 15 years old. She won this title in 1998 and finished the year as the no. 1 player in the world four times while competing against some of the strongest players the women’s game has ever known. (The Williams sisters were sensations and playing often, Jennifer Capriati had regained her confidence, and a host of other players, including Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce, knew what it took to win a major title.) Davenport won two other major titles, too: at Wimbledon in 1999 and at the Australian Open in 2000. She has played nearly 950 singles matches in her career.If this is Davenport’s last Open, there’s at least a chance that her goodbye will be a long one. She has a great draw this year and could easily advance to the quarterfinals. She’ll play the powerful but erratic Marion Bartoli, seeded no. 12, today.Sportsmanship. Andy Roddick’s pummeling of Fabrice Santoro wouldn’t have made any headlines if not for the bit of drama at the end. On the second-to-last point of the match, Roddick struck a 140 mph serve that bounced in the center of the service box and sent Santoro ducking for cover (rather than trying to put his racket on the ball). Santoro, clearly annoyed, didn’t contest the final point of the match (standing with his hands by his sides as Roddick hit an ace). Roddick apologized at the net and said he didn’t mean to hit Santoro, but there was no need for an apology. Why should a player who serves 140 mph for three full sets take something off of his best shot on the last game? He wasn’t trying to embarrass Santoro — if there was anything for Santoro to be embarrassed about, it was his own poor play.It’s understandable that the Frenchman was frustrated, but don’t pin the blame on Roddick. This is the U.S. Open, not an exhibition, so serving hard, no matter the score, is justified. It’s also worth recalling a match a few years ago when Roddick refused to accept a bad call that would have handed him a match against Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco went on to win. Roddick has his flaws, but by no means is he a bad sport.An Olympic hangover? Every time the summer Olympics interferes with tennis, we wonder about fatigue. Will the top stars have much energy left? Should we expect more upsets than usual? So far, there’s no evidence of it at the U.S. Open. The men and women who did the best in Beijing are still here. The top Chinese women, who took time away from the tour to train for the Olympics, are not suffering a letdown, either. Many players flew from America to Beijing and back again, or even from America to Beijing to their home country and then back here. In tennis, though, such travel is not out of the ordinary. After a week off and a chaos-free first week at the tournament (no rain, no delays), most everyone should be in good shape for the second week.The future. Want to take an early look at two women who might rise into the top five in a few years? Watch Victoria Azarenka, a 19-year-old from Belarus, and Caroline Wozniacki, an 18-year-old from Denmark, do battle today. Both of them are tall (5-foot-10), powerful, and well-rounded players. Wozniacki won the second title of her career in New Haven the weekend before the Open began; Azarenka is still in search of her first title. You’ll be seeing a lot more from these two in the years to come.Talent fulfilled. Here’s an outsider who might prevent Rafael Nadal from reaching his first U.S. Open final: Gael Monfils, who defeated Evgeny Korolev yesterday, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The man who might be the most gifted athlete on the tour will celebrate his 22nd birthday this weekend and for once, he seems injury-free and willing to learn. Many a coach and commentator has criticized Monfils for his defensive style, which makes no sense for a man so tall (6-foot-4), so fast, and so powerful. He’s now working with Roger Rasheed, Lleyton Hewitt’s former coach, and seems to have taken a step forward as a player. Monfils won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon as a junior and has long been touted as one of the best prospects in the sport. He reached the semifinals at the French Open earlier this year and pushed Roger Federer to four sets. This weekend might be the beginning of something bigger.Mr. Perrotta is a senior editor at Tennis magazine. He can be reached at tperrotta@tennismagazine.com.

Five Things To Watch for This Weekend

Five Things To Watch for This Weekend

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