FLUSHING, New York - When ninth-seeded American Andy
Roddick takes the court Monday, he will not have to face the
legendary Andre Agassi on the opposite side of the net.
Instead, qualifier Benjamin Becker of Germany, who ended
Agassi's emotional farewell tour Sunday afternoon in four sets,
will be the opponent standing between Roddick and a fifth trip
to the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
Roddick advanced to the Round of 16 by pulling out a five-set
triumph over No. 22 Fernando Verdasco of Spain. He has mixed
feelings about moving on to face Becker rather than Agassi.
"I was so torn with (the possibility of) that matchup," said
Roddick after Sunday's victory. "Obviously, you want to play
against your idols, but then again you don't want to be the guy
who shot Bambi.
"I would have gone in feeling like foreigner here in this
stadium and I wouldn't have been angry about it at all."
Roddick, who won his only major singles title here in 2003, also
shared his thoughts about facing Becker.
"He serves out of his shoes," Roddick said. "He takes huge
cuts. He looked like he returned pretty well."
After consulting with five-time tournament champ and Hall of
Famer Jimmy Connors, Roddick's play has improved considerably.
He has a nine-match winning streak dating to his victory in
Cincinnati last month.
Two other former champions join Roddick on Monday's men's
singles slate. No. 15 Lleyton Hewitt, who won his first major
here in 2001, meets No. 25 Richard Gasquet of France at Arthur
Ashe Stadium for the first time to close out the night session.
Nursing a knee injury, Hewitt has done himself a favor by
winning his first three matches in straight sets.
"It's hard to see it getting to a hundred percent at the
moment," Hewitt said of his ailing knee. "This (win over Novak
Djokovic on Sunday) is exactly what I could have hoped for.
Hour and a half match, to get through against a guy that can
play well, that gives me a lot of confidence going into a
similar kind of matchup against Gasquet."
The rain delays that have plagued the tournament have resulted a
pair of third-round matches being pushed back to Monday.
One day after eliminating fourth-seeded David Nalbandian of
Argentina, 2000 titlist Marat Safin of Russia takes on No. 26
Olivier Rochus of Belgium. The other remaining third-round
match pits No. 14 Tommy Haas of Germany against No. 18 Robby
Ginepri of the United States.
Playing in the Round of 16 here for the first time,
second-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain faces 31-year old Jiri Novak
of the Czech Republic, who makes his third trip to this point
in the tournament.
Rounding out the men's schedule is No. 6 Tommy Robredo of Spain
and Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
All eight women's matches in the Round of 16 are on the schedule
for Monday, which includes three featuring past champions.
Kicking off the night session will be top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo
of France and American Serena Williams, a two-time winner who
is competing this year by virtue of a wild card.
Mauresmo is looking to become only the second No. 1 seed to win
the U.S. Open since Martina Hingis in 1997. Williams is the
other woman to accomplish the feat since then.
Second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, the 2003
champion, opens the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium when she
challenges No. 21 Shahar Peer of Isreal. The 19-year-old Peer
earned her first career trip to the fourth round by upsetting
fourteenth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone on Friday.
After outlasting No. 22 Katarina Srebotnik in a third-set
tiebreak on Sunday, No. 10 Lindsay Davenport, the 1998 champion,
faces No. 7 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.
Schnyder did not win a game in the first set of her third-round
match against No. 26 Marion Bartoli of France before storming
back to take the next two, 6-3, 6-3.
Following the Schnyder-Davenport encounter on Louis Armstrong
court, No. 3 Maria Sharapova of Russia goes up against No. 24 Li
Na of China, who upset Frenchwoman Mary Pierce, the thirteenth
seed.
Several other Russian women round out the rest of the women's
schedule Monday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva battles Aravane Rezai, No. 6
Svetlana Kuznetsova faces No. 19 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and
Montenegro, No. 12 Dinara Safina takes on Virginie Razzano of
France and No. 23 Anna Chakvetadze meets No. 27 Tatiana Golovin
of France.