Women Come Out Swinging at the U.S. Open

While much of the tennis world continues to be consumed with the Rafa/Roger rivalry -- will Rafael Nadal's over-stressed knees give out, thus preventing the Spaniard from capturing his first U.S. Open title, or will Roger Federer win a record-breaking sixth consecutive U.S. Open title? -- I have been captivated by the stories, not to mention the amazing match play, of some of the women in this year's tournament.

Don't get me wrong: I adore those young men as much as the next tennis addict and I always drop everything to watch when they play. They truly have taken the game of tennis to new heights, Federer with his technical perfection and fluid style of play, and Nadal with his speed, shot-making, and ability to run down every ball and grind down his opponents.

Inspiring? You bet. But so is the story of American Melanie Oudin, from Marietta, Ga. At 17, Oudin is the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open since Serena Williams back in 1999. The unseeded Oudin is scheduled to play her quarterfinal match against No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Wednesday evening. In three hard-fought matches she picked off three top Russian players to earn that spot: No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva (in the second round), former U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova (third round), and No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova (fourth round). She never once lost her composure or even looked down for the count.

What about Kim Clijsters, the former World No. 1 Belgian player and 2005 U.S. Open women's champion, who retired two years ago to start a family? Now, a year and a half after giving birth to her daughter, she has come back, literally swinging. Clijsters battled her way past Venus Williams in the fourth round and China's No. 1 Na Li in the quarterfinal. She now faces Serena Williams in the semifinal. How that match will go is anybody's guess -- despite William's powerful and intense game, Clijsters, like Nadal, has the will to run down every ball and send it back over the net.

As someone who took not two but twelve years to take off those extra pregnancy pounds and get into something resembling decent shape, I am awed by what she has already accomplished in her comeback.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, dismissed Italy's Flavia Pennetta in straight sets in the quarterfinals and is headed for yet another Grand Slam semifinal. But Pennetta, who, at 27, is the same age as Williams, is still a great story -- the first Italian woman ever to reach a top 10 ranking in the WTA (Women's Tennis Association). She had previously beaten Williams three consecutive times (though not in Grand Slam events). Down a set and a break in her fourth round U.S. Open match against Russian Vera Zvonareva, Pennetta kept her cool as her opponent unraveled (in one of the most entertaining court meltdowns of the tournament) in the deciding third set, which Pennetta won 6-0.

Still, she was no match for Williams in Tuesday night's quarterfinal. Serena, the younger of the two brilliant Williams sisters, is known to turn it on for the big events. Between them, the Williams sisters have won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, with seven of those going to Venus and 11 to Serena, and in recent years Serena has emerged as the dominant of the two.

Serena was 17 when she won her first Grand Slam event -- the U.S. Open -- in 1999. Now, a decade later, she is favored to win it again, and if she does it will be her fourth. Earlier this summer she beat her sister to claim the crown at Wimbledon for a third time.

I hear a lot of people say they are tired of watching the Williamses play each other, or that they lack the dedication of other players because they participate in fewer non-Grand Slam events, or that they tend to become distracted by other business ventures. I disagree emphatically. These women have had the guts to play on their own terms, with extraordinary results.

In June, Roger Federer won Wimbledon in an all-out five-set battle against American Andy Roddick and became the first man to claim 15 Grand Slam titles -- surpassing the great Pete Sampras's record of 14. Commentator after commentator announced that Federer was the first player ever to win that many. Sorry, Roger, as amazing as you are, that distinction goes to Margaret Smith Court, who during her exceptional career won a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, followed closely by Steffi Graf, who captured 22, plus a "Golden Slam" in which she won all four tennis Grand Slam titles plus the Olympic gold medal in a single calendar year.

But who's counting?