Andy Roddick, U.s. Open | featured news

The United States is suffering the consequences of leaning on a model that often limits tennis to those who can afford it. The solution would be using the public school system to widen the talent pool.

Always a fan favorite at the United States Open, and the 2003 champion, Andy Roddick headed into retirement with a 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Juan Martin del Potro... More than an hour after hitting one last shot as a professional tennis player, then delivering one last, voice-wavering speech to an adoring U.S. Open audience, Andy Roddick exited the locker room one last time.

Andy Roddick, the top American man for the last decade, and the last American man to win a Grand Slam event, will retire from tennis after the US Open. Roddick made the announcement in a news conference Thursday.

The gate-minders at Court 13 erected barriers to control the ticket-holders racing over from 10,103-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium, desperate for a spot on bleachers designed to hold 584. Those who made it inside Court 13 before an usher shouted, “No more people!” got the rare privilege of watching world-class tennis in a high school-size venue Thursday at the U.S. Open.

One woman's exit from the U.S. Open was jarring and sudden. Another's came off as sad and not all that surprising. Victoria Azarenka and Melanie Oudin said goodbye to Flushing Meadows in starkly different manners Wednesday - Azarenka, a concussion victim collapsing on the overheated court and Oudin a straight-set loser to a player who cared little about the 18-year-old's dreams of a fairy tale repeat.

This trick shot by Roger Federer was most definitely real. He's even hit it before. The five-time U.S. Open champion was up at the net when his first-round opponent, 96th-ranked Brian Dabul of Argentina, lofted a lob. Federer spun around to sprint toward the baseline. A couple of steps before reaching the wall behind the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and with his back to the net, Federer swatted the ball between his legs. The shot landed in a corner beside Dabul, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged.