| Roddick Stops Brasington's Cinderella Run Kuerten quickly advances, but Kafelnikov and Hewitt have a harder time. Andy Roddick ended Jack Brasington's Cinderella run at the US Open, but what began as a rout turned into a thriller. Although he just celebrated his 19th birthday, Roddick learned the disadvantages of being a seed, playing a likeable underdog like fellow American Brasington, a qualifier who in the first round outlasted Gianluca Pozzi in five memorable sets. On Friday night, after Roddick blasted through the first two sets, the No. 18 seed seemed destined for a quick victory. But Brasington suddenly pounced back and took the third set, surprising Roddick and turning the rowdy crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium solidly in his favor. During the fourth set, with fans cheering his every winner, Brasington took Roddick to a tie-break, but his run ended with a double fault on match point. Roddick prevailed 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(4). "The fans were wonderful...pushing me to a fifth set," Brasington said after the match. "The first two sets, I couldn't get into it. It was overwhelming... Finally, he hit some errors and I got my confidence going." Although appearing a bit puzzled by the crowd, Roddick described the atmosphere at Arthur Ashe at night as "the most electric place in the world." "That was a great effort," Roddick said of Brasington. "I was lucky to get out of there in four." Roddick now meets Alex Corretja, who defeated Jerome Golmard. Earlier on Friday, Lleyton Hewitt and Yevgeny Kafelnikov both managed to squeak out five-set wins. Kafelnikov fought back from two sets down to defeat George Bastl of Switzerland 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, while Hewitt toppled American James Blake 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. Kafelnikov served 24 aces in his nearly three-hour match, but he double faulted 13 times. Once the Russian turned the match in his favor in the third set, Bastl began to tire and started cramping by the fourth set. "All the guys, 127 (other) guys in the men's draw, can play the game of tennis," said Kafelnikov, who also needed five sets to defeat Michel Kratochvil in the first round. "That's the only explanation I can give you. Doesn't matter where you are in the ranking, you still have to come out and try to play 100 percent every time. There is no more easy, easy matches these days." Next up for him is US Open newcomer, David Nalbandian of Argentina, who upset No. 31 seed Nicolas Escude of France. The Argentinian's best results came during the European clay court season, when he reached the semifinals in Umag and Sopot in July. Blake played the match of his life, at least in the early sets. He had a total of 13 aces, and had the crowds in his favor in Louis Armstrong Stadium. However, the more experienced Hewitt took command in the final two sets and now advances to the third round, where he will meet Albert Portas. Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, seeded No. 15, scored an easy win over American Justin Gimelstob 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The Croatian, who reached the semifinals in Indianapolis two weeks ago, had his best US Open result in 1996, when he lost to Pete Sampras in the semifinals. "I played safe," Ivanisevic said after the match. "I was waiting for him to miss." In the next round Ivanisevic takes on Spaniard Albert Costa, who knocked out No. 23 seed Dominik Hrbaty 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5). This is the first time in seven appearances that Costa has made it past the second round of the US Open. "[Costa's] a guy who doesn't give you easy mistakes," Ivanisevic said, acknowledging that he he's likely to face far more of a fight in his next round. "I have to play well... I have to serve well... If I play like this, I'm confident it will be an interesting match." Also on Friday, top seed Gustavo Kuerten cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kristian Pless. After the match, Kuerten said he feels good about his chances of winning his first US Open title. "This tournament is one of the Slam events that [I've] always dreamed of winning," he said. |