US Open Day 5

It's a shame about Denis Istomin. The guy is playing the biggest match of his life - against the number one player in the world, Rafael Nadal, on one of the biggest stages in the tennis world - night match at Arthur Ashe stadium - and he plays the best point of the tournament, possibly the best point of his whole life, to go up 5-1 in the second set tiebreak, after getting thoroughly outplayed in the point. He switches sides pumped up and thrilled. And then he doesn't win another point in the breaker, dropping the set 7-5. That's got to hurt. All in all, it was a very strong performance from the top Uzbek player (he's actually 390 places higher than the next best player from his country) and I hope he'll be encouraged by how close he got, rather than disappointed by the fact that he just fell short. He's been making steady progress since he got a wildcard into the Australian Open in 2006 and got blitzed by Roger Federer in the first round. There's no reason he shouldn't find himself seeded for these sorts of tournaments in the not-too-distant future.

Speaking of players who should be encouraged by near misses, American teen Ryan Harrison missed out on three match points against Sergiy Stakhovsky in the fifth set tiebreak. The first two were on the Ukrainian players serve, but then the American had one point on his serve and - disappointingly - he double-faulted. Really, it shouldn't be a shock. He's just eighteen, he had never played a five set match before, and he surely had never had a crowd rooting for him like this one was. The nerves just got to him. It's totally understandable - all it says is that he's not ready to compete at these stages, for these sorts of stakes, yet. It's too much, too fast, and that's fine. He'll be back - I expect by this time next year, he'll be in the top hundred (or so) and won't have to fuss about not getting a wildcard and needing to qualify. But he has the potential to be the next big thing for U.S. men's tennis - he has the game for it, and it's an excitingly different style of tennis when compared to the other young Americans, big and tall guys bombing serves like Isner and Querrey. Harrison plays fast, smart, and powerful tennis, and I think he's got a ton of upside potential for the future.

That was really the dominant storyline from today's tennis by a pretty wide margin. The only other particularly noteworthy result I can find is Gilles Simon upsetting 29th seed Phillip Kohlschreiber, but Simon is a former top-ten player who loves this surface and is just getting his act together (and apparently, he just became a father!). It was always going to be a pick-em. This was a day when the favorites reigned supreme - on Arthur Ashe stadium, the losing player didn't even win one set in five matches. On Louis Armstrong, Chiudinelli won one set against Isner, but otherwise it was also a sweep.

The only other result of note is that Julien Benneteau hurt his left wrist so badly while trying to hit a double-handed backhand that he couldn't even toss the ball up to serve, and was forced to retire from his match, in the middle of a tiebreak. I've never seen that happen before, and it appears to be rare enough that the US Open website isn't prepared for that eventuality either, and can't figure out how to show the tiebreak score properly.

There weren't even any three-set matches on the women's side, today. That was quite a change from the way the week had been going up to this point.

But that should change in the next days. The real contenders are starting to run into each other as we reach the third round in the men's draw, and get ready for the fourth round on the women's side. Without further ado, let's start looking ahead to Saturday...

The Arthur Ashe schedule is particularly mouth-watering, I have to say. Jelena Jankovic, a former finalist here, was severely troubled by her first two opponents, and things presumably won't be getting any easier against Estonian 31st-seed Kaia Kanepi. Upset watch is on high alert for this match. After that, Maria Sharapova gets an American teen, the Melanie Oudin of this year - Beatrice "Tracy" Capra. Oudin actaully ousted Sharapova in last year's US Open, but that wasn't the same Maria. I don't expect her to go out in the same set of circumstances this year, but it will be fun to see what the American can do.

Federer gets Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, and the Fed is 4-0 against the Frenchman, but this is actually the toughest opposition that Fed has faced up to this point. Even though Mathieu is currently ranked outside the top hundred, he is the former world number 12 and a one-time top prospect for French tennis. But in four meetings, the Frenchman has only been able to win one set. I don't know how much Mathieu can muster for this one.

The night match, on the other hand, that's quite a different story. James Blake and Novak Djokovic are facing off, and the two have both played some of their best tennis at night matches in Arthur Ashe. This one could be a thriller. The best match of James's life is arguably the night match he ended up losing to Andre Agassi in 2005. He is eager to show that he's back, and that people who were sending him off into the sunset were doing so prematurely. But Djokovic, after escaping the first round in Houdini-like fashion and seeing the other top seeds in his section topple like dominoes, surely wants to remind everyone that he's still here, as well. This could be a statement match from either player. And I remember the night match Blake played against Del Potro earlier this year at the Aussie Open, and that was an absolutely brutal five-set thriller. There's no guarantee that's what we'll get tomorrow, but it's a possibility.

Speaking of forgotten contenders, after that we get former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against Kirilenko, and that's another tough one. Could be some fireworks there, as well.

On the other courts, I'm excited about Soderling against Thiemo De Bakker - the young Dutch player is going to start making noise at some point in the future. Maybe not tomorrow, though. Mardy Fish takes on the French vet Arnaud Clement, who is still tough as nails despite being 32. Fish has been playing great, but that's a tricky opponent.

On grandstand, Monfils and Tipsarevic face off in the morning - expect some shotmaking in that match. Those guys are both really fun, exciting players to watch. I lean towards Monfils, but Tipsy played amazing ball against Roddick, and Monfils may give him just as many spinny, high-bouncing balls to take big cuts at. Melzer-Ferrero is another interesting match, as those guys are both vets, and they're playing for the dubious honor of getting Roger Federer in the next round. Who wants to lose on center court, gentlemen?

Gasquet and Nishikori are both in action as well, and while they both had stunning upsets in the last round, I wonder if they'll be able to follow it up with another win. Ryan Harrison couldn't quite pull it off, but maybe one or both of them can. I also like that Melanie Oudin and Ryan Harrison are playing mixed doubles together. Just try not to root for them, I dare you.

We're getting into the middle weekend now - Labor Day weekend, of course. A big time for the Open. Tons of fans on the grounds, juniors are getting underway, and the big-name clashes are starting to come in droves. For an Open that's already been pretty chock-full of action and surprises, it may only get more exciting from here. Or it could end up being like Wimbledon this year, which had an amazing first week but became fairly predictable in the second. Here's hoping otherwise.