Have I mentioned how much I love going to the U.S. Open? It just might be one of my favorite days of the year. How often do you sit down on a bench, only for Martina Navratilova to walk right past you?

I was there yesterday for over 10 hours, watching matches from 11 A.M. to after 9 P.M. The best part is walking back and forth between Ashe Stadium, Armstrong Stadium, the Grandstand and all of the outside courts, checking out all of the action. On the womens side, every seed advanced including Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams and Amelie Mauremso. Angela Haynes, a teenager from Compton, CA fought gamely but was sent home by Francesca Schiavone, who had the shot of the day - hitting the ball between her legs! The closest womens match was contested between Patty Schnyder and the leggy Daniela Hantuchova. The third game had about 20 deuces and the final set went to a tiebreaker. On the mens side, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt advanced but #12 seed Sebastian Grosjean was beaten by Tommy Haas, #7 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was beaten by Stefan Koubek, and #8 seed David Nalbandian was beaten by Mikhail Youzhny. This was the last match I saw and the best. It was a five setter that Youzhny pulled out after encouraging the crowd to cheer for him via fist pumps and clapping. This pissed off Nalbandian who yelled to Youzhny - "Could you stop it. Do me a favor." This only turned the crowd against Nalbandian. After losing the match, he slammed his racket on the ground, kicked it across the court and hesitated before shaking Youzhny's hand. High drama!

The great day of tennis helped to obscure some of the bad news going on in the world such as the newest Florida hurricane, the tragedy in Russia with the Chechnan terrorists, Bill Clinton's upcoming heart bypass surgery and Bush's bounce in the polls.

And now the fun Labor Day weekend continues!