In another dramatic match, Melanie Oudin, the rising American teenage star, held her nerve to close out a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win against Maria Sharapova. Sharapova helped Oudin’s cause by double faulting 21 times (basically a set of double faults).
Oudin’s amazing run can still continue as she now faces 13th seeded Nadia Petrova in the Fourth Round. Oudin will again come into this match an underdog but you have to like her chances to make it into the quarterfinals.
Because of Oudin’s long match plus Roddick’s long five setter against John Isner, Dinara Safina’s match didn’t start until ten o’clock at night and on Louis Armstrong court. Facing off against Petra Kvitova, it was another wild, nervy error filled match from Safina. This time however, Kvitova showed real belief and attacked Safina at every opportunity. Things did get tight when Safina had three match points on Kvitova’s serve in the third set, but Kvitova held on to get things into a tiebreak where she finally prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) finally ending Safina’s misery this week.
Safina will remain number one no matter what but her loss does mean an unseeded player will reach the semifinals in her section of the draw.
Other winners today included Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki who will face each other in the fourth round. The winner of that match will be a heavy favorite to reach the semifinals as well.
Adjusting the Net 