Williams Wins After a Fashion

NEW YORK â€”  The fashion statement came from Tatiana Golovin in her hip-hugging, low-riding yellow shorts and cropped black shirt on a cool night in New York.

The tennis statement came from Serena Williams, with her howling forehands and screaming backhands and even a set of splits that ended with a winning shot.

Williams, seeded third and twice a winner here, survived a noisy barrage of powerful ground strokes from the 16-year-old Golovin of France to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory Friday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

There was also what is becoming the daily five-set contentious match with smashed rackets and obscenities on an outside court.

David Nalbandian, seeded eighth from Argentina and a semifinalist here last year, broke his equipment in anger at himself and screamed at his opponent, low-key Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, for not giving Nalbandian enough notice about the introduction of fresh tennis balls.

Nalbandian was also the loser of the four-hour, second-round match, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Leading a march of three Austrians into the third round, Jurgen Melzer upset 23rd-seeded Vince Spadea, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Melzer was joined by countrymen Stefan Koubek, who eliminated seventh-seeded and 2003 U.S. Open finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3; and Alexander Peya, who defeated Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, on Court 4.

That left more Austrians than American men. Only 34-year-old Andre Agassi and defending champion Andy Roddick remain for the U.S.

Roddick swept past 18-year-old Rafael Nadal of Spain, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

Roddick tied his own Open record for fastest serve with a 152-mph offering, and twice Roddick serves caromed off Nadal’s racket to leave marks on the young Spaniard’s face and leg.

Roddick himself took a hard fall on his hip. He also questioned the chair umpire several times during the match.

“Something about a night session at the Open that kind of gets inside you a little bit,� Roddick said. “He was getting pumped up. I wanted to make sure I kind of stayed on par and kept my intensity up as well.�

The other women’s matches were both predictable and emotional.

Compton’s 19-year-old Angela Haynes, already having recorded her best Grand Slam tournament performance with two wins, fought hard and sometimes well but was hurt by one missed volley in her 6-3, 7-6 (3) loss to 16th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

In the 12th game of the second set, Haynes, who is ranked 185th in the world and received a wild-card entry into the Open, made a rookie mistake.

With the score 6-5 in favor of Haynes and 15-15 with Schiavone serving, Haynes hit a nearly perfect defensive lob that skipped off the baseline.

As she was running with her back to Haynes, Schiavone hit a near-impossible reply, a between-the-legs floater that lifted lazily over the net.

Haynes had plenty of time to line up an easy volley, but she missed it. Badly. The ball sailed 10 feet long.

“She shocked me with that one,� Haynes said. “I was too busy looking at her, because it was such a good shot. I forgot to hit the volley.�

Jennifer Capriati, seeded eighth, struggled through a three-setter for the second consecutive day but advanced to the fourth round with a victory over 17-year-old Russian Vera Douchevina, 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Amelie Mauresmo, seeded second, had an easier trip with her 6-2, 6-0 victory over 31st-seeded Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela, and 15th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland moved into a fourth-round match against Williams with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Hantuchova began crying when the score was 6-6 in the tiebreaker.

Williams struggled to find the range with her ground strokes, committing 24 of her 42 unforced errors in the first set.

“I pretty much gave away over a set in unforced errors,� Williams said. “I was just going for too much and not looking at the ball.�

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, seeded fourth and the 2001 champion, had another impressive outing with his 7-6 (7), 6-1, 6-2 victory over Morocco’s Hicham Arazi and may be headed to a quarterfinal matchup with rapidly improving Tommy Haas of Germany.

Haas upset 12th-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Haas, once ranked No. 2 in the world, missed last year’s Open while recovering from two shoulder surgeries.

He also was emotionally devastated by an automobile accident that severely injured both his parents.

“I really am appreciating the fact I can be out here, competing, and my shoulder is holding up,� Haas said. “I really enjoyed being in the top 10. So it’s now possible again, maybe in this year of my second career.�

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At a Glance

Highlights from Friday at the U.S. Open:

RESULTS

* Men, second round: No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 4 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 18 Tommy Robredo, No. 28 Joachim Johansson and No. 30 Feliciano Lopez won. No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean and No. 23 Vince Spadea lost.

* Women, third round: No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 3 Serena Williams, No. 6 Elena Dementieva, No. 8 Jennifer Capriati, No. 10 Vera Zvonareva, No. 12 Ai Sugiyama, No. 15 Patty Schnyder and No. 16 Francesca Schiavone advanced to the fourth round. No. 23 Fabiola Zuluaga, No. 30 Tatiana Golovin and No. 31 Maria Vento-Kabchi lost, and No. 28 Nathalie Dechy withdrew because of a leg injury.

TODAY’S FEATURED MATCHES

* Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Fabrice Santoro (31), France

* Mary Pierce (27), France, vs. Maria Sharapova (7), Russia

* Jiri Novak (25), Czech Republic, vs. Andre Agassi (6)

* Elena Bovina (26), Russia, vs. Lindsay Davenport (5)

* Venus Williams (11) vs. Chanda Rubin (20)

* Justine Henin-Hardenne (1), Belgium, vs. Lisa Raymond

* Michal Tabara, Czech Republic, vs. Tim Henman (5), Britain