2009's stories in tennis

2009 was a compelling year in tennis. We saw a record broken, a young American light up England and New York, and an outburst in New York. Hard to fathom that one of the top stories of the year doesn't include a former Grnad Slam winner. That's only because of what else happened.

5. The return of Kim Clijsters

Clijsters walked away from tennis and was ready to settle down to be a mother and wife. But something was drawing her back. And the tennis world was blessed to see her performance in New York. It even inspired former #1 Justine Henin to return. What makes Clijsters run to the U.S. Open title extremely impressive is who she defeated. #3 Venus Williams, #18 Na Li, #2 Serena Williams, #9 Caroline Wozniacki. Four straight seeds faced, four straight seeds defeated.

4. Richard Gasquet dodges suspension.

On July 15, it was announced that Gasquet would not face any type of suspension as the result of a positive test in March. What was in Gasqet's urine sample? Cocaine. The most surprising part of this story is how Gasquet told the International Tennis Federation the cocaine got in his system. Gasquet told the ITF's panel that he kissed a woman in a nightclub. That was his defense...and the ITF bought it. Well, it was also presented that Gasquet barely had any cocaine in his system at the time of the test, but he did have it in his system.

3. Serena's U.S. Open

It was the semi-finals when it happened. The world's #2 player, Serena Williams, was playing the eventual winner, unseeded Kim Clijsteres. Williams was called for a foot fault by a line judge. She could not believe that such a call was made. Williams strode in the direction of the judge and began to tirade her for what Williams viewed as a bad call. After Serena was done, the judge went to the referee and before we all knew it, Clijsters was awarded a point due to an earlier outburst from Serena. That meant the match was also over and Clijsters was the victor and advancing to the finals. Williams was fined over $80 grand for this outburst.

2. Melanie Oudin

No American drew more attention this past summer than Oudin. It began at Wimbledon when Oudin ousted  #6 seed Jelena Jankovic in three sets. to advance to the second week. Her stay wouldn't last much longer. Oudin had a chance to advance further and she pushed #11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska for two difficult sets, but Oudin dropped the match. That magic would travel with Oudin to New York. Oudin would drop a quarterfinal match to eventual runner-up #9 seed Catherine Wozniacki, but Melanie would leave a trail of impressive three set wins in her wake (#13 Nadia Petrova, #29 Maria Sharapova and #4 Elena Dementieva). Did I mention that she's only 18?

1. Roger Federer

Three things about Fed's year. He finally won in Paris. That meant he finally got his career slam. Federer also broke Pete Sampras' record for lifetime Grand Slam wins. Federer broke the record at Wimbledon against Andy Roddick in what could only be termed as the match of the year. Breaking Sampras' record wasn't enough as Pete himself attended the affair and witness the passing of the torch to Roger. All of this and Federer became a father. Could anyone ask for more from a year?

Next for us? we'll take a look at 2009 from college football.

Oudin to quarters

Remember, it's not a big deal. You just act like your hitting with your sister. That's all. That's a bit of what American Melanie Oudin sounded like after she defeated Maria Sharapova two matches ago.

Oudin continued one of the greatest runs posted by an American teen since Serena Williams won the 1999 U.S. Open by taking down yet another seeded Russian. This time it was #13 seed Nadia Pretrova's turn to lose a three set match to Oudin, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Oudin, for the third straight match, lost the first set.

"I don't actually mean to lose the first set," explained a smiling Oudin, 17-4 this season in three-setters. "I sometimes just start off slowly, I guess. Maybe I'm a little nervous."

Next for Oudin will be #9 seed Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark. Wozniacki also had to go three sets also to defeat #6 seed and two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3). Both Wozniacki and Oudin are first timers reaching this point in a Grand Slam. Wozniacki knows she's up against it going into her quarterfinal match with Oudin.

"Hopefully," Wozniacki said, "someone from the crowd will cheer for me."

There will be some from the crowd cheering for you, Caroline...anyone you invite to be there. Eveyone else will be cheering for Oudin. The winner will also get a first semifinal match in a major. Wozniacki has been there in regular tournaments, but not in Slams. Oudin, never. Oudin was ranked #221 last year, and even if she doesn't win another match, she will be ranked no lower than #45.

The "legend" of Oudin continues to grow. She must now have security escort her around the tourney's facilities. She must make better use of her time due to requests and meetings. Some meetings are for possible endosement deals. And we've all seen her specially made Adidas shoes with "Believe" by the heel. Those shoes just add even more to her story. And Oudin does believe. And we do as we follow her with every swing of her racket.

Even at 5' 6", Melanie Oudin is now larger than life.

Top names out at US Open

Before eveyone gets too carried away with the beginning of the college football season (I'm guilty, too.), let's not forget the activities in New York.

Yesterday, the 2009 version of the U.S. Open provided some stunning outcomes. Depending on your rooting interest, some were good and some were bad.

For those in the U.S. that were hoping for Andy Roddick capturing his second major, you'll be waiting. Roddick dropped a five setter to fellow American John Isner as Isner's imposing serve and 38 aces took out the 5th-seeded Roddick: 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5). With the victory Isner advances to the fourth round of a major for the first time ever. It also marked the first major upset in the men's draw.

Isner remarked:

"It's obviously, hands down, the biggest win of my career. Nothing even compares. To do it at the stage I did it on is pretty spectacular. Maybe it will sink in a little bit more tomorrow," said Isner. "But I know I can really do some damage here. So I'm not satisfied just yet."

Isner will have that day to let it sink in.

The upsets continued with the women's top-seeded Dinara Safina dropping her match in a third set tiebreak. Unseeded Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic took down the #1, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5).

The knock on Safina has been her mental game. That couldn't have been more evident as Safina threw away three match points in the third and final set. But that's where the finger pointing began.

Safina blamed herself for her lack of execution. What "confused" her was that her match was moved from Arthur Ashe Stadium to the smaller Louis Armstrong venue. Originally, the Safina-Kvitova match was the first match of the night session. The Tommy Robredo-James Blake match was to follow. The afternoon session ran long and Safina's match was moved instead of the Robredo-Blake match. The organizer wanted to have both matches played at the same time and Safina felt disrespected.

"From my side, I can say, I'm No. 1 player in the world, why did they move me?" Safina said.

She elaborated a bit more.

"They just told us, 'We're switching you to Armstrong.' And basically that's it," Safina said. "And I think it's very unfair."

Unfair or not, Safina must once again answer questions about why she's number one and has yet to win a major.

But the day's highlight came from the Maria Sharapova-Melanie Oudin match. Oudin had beaten #4 seed Elena Dementieva in the previous round in order to get the shot at Sharapova. And it was a shot heard around the venue.

We were treated to another three set match with Oudin emerging as the victor, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. If you watched the third set, it seemed that neither Oudin nor Sharapova wanted to hold serve. Coming into the match, Sharapova led the circuit in double faults per match with 8.2. That's two games a match she was giving her opponent. The double faults bit Sharapova 21 times and led to her first week dismissal.

The 17-year-old from Marietta, Georgia spoke after the match.

"I try to pretend that it's not, like, Arthur Ashe Stadium, playing Maria Sharapova. I try to just pretend it's any other match -- even just practicing. Sometimes I tell myself I'm just practicing at my academy at home, and I'm just playing one of my friends," Oudin said. "So it's not a big deal."

Not a big deal? You just finished winning a match on the largest stage you've ever been on and it's no big deal? Now that I think of it, keep that thought process, Melanie. After all, you are the #3 rated American behind the Wiliiams sisters.

Before I forget. I have a bit of good news for Andy Roddick. Nebraska won, 49-3. We're looking for good things down under in 2010.