“15 years?” he laughed. “That would mean I would be like a lot older than I am now.”

Yes that would mean the American would have turned pro when he was seven years-old. So maybe not 15 years, but it still seems like forever.

But today Flushing Meadows got a taste of what they wanted to see all the way back to 2007 when Young was a junior champion. He won a five set classic against the 14^th seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-6, that lasted four hours and 20 minutes on Court 17 in one of the best matches of this US Open.

“It’s great for me, you know, to play 4 hours and 20 minutes,” he said.  “I saw the clock at the end.  Throughout the whole match I was looking at the clock, and like, Oh man, am I going to make it the whole time?

“But that’s what you put the work and the practice for.  To actually have it come through, yeah, it’s just great to win.”

And great for American tennis to see Young develop. This match showed why he was so hyped over the past few years. He battled his more experienced opponent even when he was down two sets to one and came back.

On fire in the fourth, he rattled off two breaks to beat the Swiss national and forced a fifth set.

It shows the fitness level of Chicago native, who in the past was criticized for not committing to the game. So, he recommitted himself and came to play in shape.

“Yeah, like I say, you know, to do things you’ve never done before you have to do things you’ve never done before,” he said.  “In the off‑season I did something different, and that was great. Definitely to see it like come and know I could play that long in a match definitely makes you feel great.”

Yes winning is much better than losing, something Young can really attest to. So far he has just five challenger wins for his career and two challenger doubles titles. His knock was that he was never committed entirely to the game, instead treating it more like a job than a calling.

“I don’t think I was getting any motivation when I was losing all the time,” he said.  “You know, you have people around you that you feel and trust in what they say and they tell you you can do it.  You go out there and keep practicing.  This is my job at the end of the day.  Most people don’t just quit a job unless they have something else to do.

“I could obviously go to school, which would be great.  Not to knock that.  But this is something I chose to do.  They always told me it would be a waste to waste the talent you have and not do anything with it.”

Even with his journeyman status Young was always a threat. The word potential has always been used when describing this hard hitting volleyer, but with every negative comes a lesson, and he has been schooled over the years.

“You know, don’t take things for granted,” he said.  “I feel like when I was 18 and I got to 73 in the world, the youngest in the top 100, I was top 75, it all seemed kind of easy, not realizing how much work I put into it to get to where I actually was.

“Life lessons?  Just keep working hard.  Don’t give up if it’s something you really want to do.  Listen to the people you trust and you can always learn.”

Yet that can wait as Young is now the talk of the tournament and the tennis world will continue to marvel at his arrival when he takes on No. 24 seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round.

“We have tons of respect for those guys, they are legends, they are marquee, they can only make our game better,” Bob Bryan said. “It was just great to have the ‘Indian Express’ back on the doubles court. It was an extra-special feeling out there.”

Paes was amazed at the Bryans ability to play perfectly on the court.

“If they had not served 83 percent first serves, but maybe 76 percent, it could have maybe been a different story,” Paes said. “Today we lost to the best team on the planet.”

The Bryans have held the No. 1 ranking in doubles for the past eight years. They have also won the U.S Open three times and the French Open and Wimbledon once.

Yet, now the two are playing in the Semifinals at the Australian Open, Aussie Kim isn’t taking any chances.

“Uhm, I think I was playing well at Wimbledon,” Clijsters said after her Quarterfinal win over Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 7-6. “I won the first set. I kind of just, you know, dropped my game a little bit. She’s a player who will be very consistent throughout a whole match, will not really mix her game up tremendously. She’ll always give you the same kind of thing. I think she did that really well.

“At the US Open I don’t think she played her best tennis in the final, and I was able to just really take advantage of that. I played really well in the beginning of the points, moved her around. Yeah, so, I mean, there were obviously two different matches, also I think from her side and also from my side.

“It will be tough. There will be a lot of rallies, long rallies I think. But I’ve always enjoyed playing my matches against her. They’ve always been a lot of fun. They’ve been, like I said, like physical and just kind of what you expect coming up for a semifinal.”

Clijsters is playing very well at Melbourne, not dropping a set and trying to get a Major outside of the US Open. Back in Flushing, she pinpointed Melbourne as her best chance, because the surface is similar to the one in Queens and he play this past week and a half has proved it.

But she face opponents below her ranking and if everything goes according to plan, the world’s most famous mother will have to face the No. 2 seed in Zvonareva and the No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

But number’s don’t bother her.

“I don’t feel like I’m No. 3 in the world. I don’t think about a number,” she said. “I mean, it’s a number. I just try to be the best Kim out there whenever I play, and it’s not about numbers. I mean, obviously we want to do well. We all want to win.

“But, you know, I remember when I first became No. 1. It was something when I was young. It was like, Wow, to be No. 1 in the world. When you actually get to it, It’s like, Oh, that’s it?

“So it’s a number, and it’s something that you obviously don’t get given for free. You have to work very hard to get to that. But, uhm, yeah, like I said, it’s just a number.”

And if everything goes by the numbers, Clijsters will be on track for her first non-US Open Grand Slam No. 1 in the next few days.

The Women’s Doubles Finals will now take place tomorrow at 3 p.m. It was suspended in the third set with set still on serve. The team of Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova took the first set, 6-2 then the team of Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova rebounded during the second set to win 6-4. Play was suspended when the third set was 5-4 Huber/Petrova hold a 0-15 lead in the 10^th game.

Then after that match – and not before 4 p.m. – the Men’s Finals will pit No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal against No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic. Nadal won his match over Mikhail Youzhny yesterday, 6-2 6-3 6-4. But Djokovic had to endure a 5-set classic over Roger Federer, 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5.

With an extra day off, the rain may help Djokovic as he will be able to recover from the Federer showdown. Both Nadal and Djokovic are looking for their first US Open Championship.

“I’m a pro at waiting for my match,” she said. “Singles, doubles, you name it, I’ve waited.  I’ve waited for rain delays.  That’s a part of tennis.  You know, there is no certain time that the match before you will end, especially like a match like that.

“So you have to expect that maybe it will go long.  I’m a pretty laid‑back person, so I don’t get too tight waiting.”

It showed today, as the No. 3 seed moved onto the Semifinals with a 7-6 6-4 win over No. 6 seed and French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone.

Actually, waiting was just part of the story, when the match started, both players had to deal with the strong swirling winds that have been affecting play during this open. Williams thought it affected her serve a little, but at the same time, it also affected Schiavone.

“I thought, Oh, my god, what are we in for today?” Williams said.  “I’m a strong player and I hit hard, but I felt like I had nothing.  I felt like I was just hitting against…

“So it was challenging.  I don’t think either of us were able to play our exact normal game because it was just hard to make a choice in the wind.  I think you end up playing a little safer, more toward the center of the court.

“But I feel like when the stakes were higher I was able to raise my game.  She did, too.  She played some great points.  She’s just so feisty that you have to kind of keep her at bay.”

Despite a now an 0-8 record against Williams, Schiavone said she liked playing Venus, because “I play different ball,” she said. “I push her in defense; I don’t give her the chance to play how she want, so every time I think we have a big fight.”

After getting the first set to a tiebreak, Schiavone was also able to fight back reeling off four straight points after being down 0-4. Ultimately, though Williams prevailed in the set and then was able to easily win the second for the match.

“I think I just started finding a little bit better rhythm in the second set,” Williams said.  “It’s not easy to find a rhythm in that kind of weather, but I was trying.  Just trying to get on top of it.

“And, you know, at the end it still was a break to win the match.  But, you know, sometimes she was like shanking, too, and it would just go in.  It was like, Will one of these please go out?

“It just shows the quality.  Like she could still not hit in the middle of the racquet and still make a play.  So it was good.”

And also worth the wait.

“Well, I’m so lucky that I am the face of adidas and Stella McCartney and I have my own special line that no one else is wearing,” Wozniacki said.  “I think that’s really nice. For me it’s important to feel good on court and of course to look good.  Then I can focus on my tennis at 100%.”

Of course, the size of the dress is something that has turned a few heads, which is a big tight compared to other outfits.

“I think it’s nice.  I definitely am sure I’ll get a lot of male fans now,” she laughed.

Actually Wozniacki could have worn a burqa out there and still turned won over fans after beating Maria Sharapova, 6-3 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals. The 20 year old showed tremendous confidence on the court and fought back her toughest challenge to date.

“I was going out there and I knew I could win,” said Wozniacki, who now improves to 19-1 since Wimbledon.  “But I knew it was going to be tough.  I knew that I had to fight for every point.  I knew that she wasn’t going to go away.  I knew she was going to hang in there and keep fighting till the end.”

The No. 14 seed may have fought, but she made just too many mistakes today. With 36 unforced errors, 9 double faults and a putrid 1-8 on breakpoints, Sharapova essentially made it easy for Wozniacki.

“Against someone that’s playing really well, playing with a lot of confidence, it’s really important to take those chances that you have, the very few that come your way,” she said. “I felt like I played a couple of good points and then, you know, make an easy error, hit a return long or miss a first serve, give her many looks at second‑serve returns.  You know, didn’t feel like I put much pressure on her.

The biggest fight in the match came in the first set after Wozniacki went up 4-1. Sharapova raged back to bring the set back on serve with the Russian serving to tie it up, but the Dane was able to the break the 2006 Champion back and went on cruise control from there.

No matter what Sharapova tried to do, Wozniacki had an answer. When she won a few points with the light lob to bring her opponent in from the baseline, the winner of the Pilot Pen Championship was able to have an answer.

And even when she fell down, Sharapova wouldn’t capitalize, by shooting the ball over the line.

“Well, you know, at first I was like, Okay, I should have hit that first shot better,” Wozniacki said.  “But then I was, Okay, I’m at the net.  Then I see her lobbing me.  Okay, I have to go back.  Then I fall on my butt.  I’m like, Okay, well, tough luck, I lost this point.  Then I look back, and I couldn’t see whether it was in and out.  Then I look at the linesman, I see it’s out.  I’m like, Okay, I was pretty lucky.

“You know, I thought it was quite funny, too.”

But to Sharapova this was no laughing matter, as the former champion apparently still have a ways to go before she can get back to the top.

Today was just another step.

“Obviously, losing a match, 30 minutes later, you’re not the happiest person in the world,” said Sharapova who now falls to 12-15 since Wimbledon. “But at the end of the day, I’m sure you’ve heard it many times, but it’s a tennis match.  You’ve just got to look back at the match and what you should have done differently, what you need to work on.”

“I really hope that wasn’t my last match on Arthur Ashe Stadium,” Blake said. “I definitely want to be back here next year.  If it was, you know, I competed my heart out.  I did everything I could.  But I think I got more in me and I think I’m going to be back there.  Maybe more night matches, some more excitement for the crowds, some more good times.

“You know, I definitely believe that.  I hope it comes true next year”.

So Blake is not packing it up yet. In fact, he is just taking a few weeks off and then playing in Stockholm. This is a guy who made the third round of the Open and lost to the No. 3 in the world, so life is okay right now for the Yonkers native.

But it’s his health that’s the big question. At 30, you have to wonder how healthy he can stay as he goes though the grind of the season. Sure the money is good, but this is a guy who lost a year and a half with a broken neck and another injury that keeps him on the shelf may be his last.

That’s why he calls it a “sprint and not a marathon” and he attacks each match with all out effort.

“I lost in straight sets, but I put a little scare in the No. 3 player in the world,” he said.  “And I beat two pretty good players.  So even if I’m not at 100% right now, I don’t feel like I’m, you know, hurting the game by being out here.  I’m not on a pity tour just getting beat up first round every week by kind of nobodies.  I lost to a pretty darn good player.  I’m playing okay and I know I can play better because, yeah, the preparation can be better.”

With his ranking below 100, Blake may have to go back to qualifiers if he wants to get invited to international tournaments. So that may be a problem, but with the money he is making from his contract with FILA, along with the money he makes on the tour, the former World No. 4 would be a fool to hang it up if he can compete.

Of course, he doesn’t want to be what he calls a charity case and just be the guy who loses in the first round all the time.

As you know that wasn’t the case this year and if he can keep it going while staying healthy, Blake expects to play until 34 or 35 years old.

And when that time comes, the Harvard graduate will have a number of options on his play, be it in tennis, such as a broadcaster or coach or doing something outside the game.

One thing’s for certain, though, after he is done this US Open favorite will not miss the travel and has one thing in mind for his first six months after hanging it up.

“I know I’ve already told all my friends that some of them are going to come visit me and I’m going to be playing golf for six months once I’m done,” he said.  “I’m going to be home.  I travel 30 weeks out of year.  I’m going to be in my bed for at least six months straight where I’m not getting on a plane, I’m not getting on a train, I’m not getting on a bus, I’m not doing anything.  I’m staying at home, playing some golf and relaxing.  Then I’ll see what motivates me.”

Now after her 6-1 6-2 win over Iveta Benesova, the Russian beauty will be facing another up and coming American in Beatrice Capra.

“I know that she’s American and she’s 18, I believe (laughter), and she’s in the third round of the Open.  So that says a lot,” Sharapova said.

The funny thing is, Sharapova is one of Capra’s idols and someone she used as inspiration as a young girl. It’s surprising to Sharapova, since she’s only 23.

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy because I still somewhat consider myself pretty young, as well; I’d like to think so, at least,” she said.  “You know, to see someone coming up that’s 18, that’s a lot younger than I am, in the third round of the Open is great.  I think it shows a lot about the younger generation that’s coming up.  To see someone especially that’s an American and doing well at the Open is really great.”

Sharapova says she’s pretty uncomfortable with all the attention. She thinks she’s far from perfect and at such a young age, it’s hard to be a mentor.

“It’s really strange because I’ve always had a difficult time accepting, you know, when little kids, whether I’m doing a clinic, talking to them, when they tell me they want to be just like me not only is a bit overwhelming and a bit of a shock, it’s kind of strange,” Sharapova said. “I mean, I’m certainly far from perfect.  I have many things I’m not good at.  I always say to them, You should want to be better than me or anyone else.”

“I think maybe that’s one of the reasons growing up, you know, I idolized a certain part of someone’s game but I never thought that someone was so good that I wanted to be like them.  I think that’s a good point is, you know, she probably said one of my strengths.  Obviously, that’s something that’s gotten me through so many matches in my career.  In tennis, being strong and steady mentally sometimes more than physically is more important on certain days.”

Mentoring aside Sharapova is used to the royal treatment by the fans at Arthur Ashe, but doesn’t expect it on Saturday when she plays Capra. Much like last year, the American crowd will go with their favorite daughter rather than a Russian national who happens to live in the United States.

“I think it’s absolutely understandable,” Sharapova said.  “We’re playing in New York.  When you have someone that’s coming up, having a great Open, I mean, there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be any support behind her.”

So we will see on Saturday when the young Capra steps on the court for to take on her idol. Maybe this year, Sharapova will have some memories to come from the match, unlike the Oudin match.

“Why do we need to remember that one?” she said.

Totally understandable.

Needless to say, this time it was a little easier.

“Yeah, just a little bit,” laughed Isner after he disposed of Federico Gil, 6-4 6-3 6-4.  “I don’t know the exact time of my match tonight, but obviously it was a lot less time on the court.

“So for my second‑round match I should be a little bit fresher than I was at Wimbledon.”

Actually John, you were on the court for 1hour, 57 minutes, certainly much less than the 11+ you played in England.

Yet, even if this match was relatively uneventful, his weeks leading up to the US Open were filled with uncertainty. You see, Isner injured his ankle in Cincinnati, which was originally diagnosed as torn ligaments, but now seems to be just a bad sprain. Up to a week ago, he was not cleared by the his doctors, but now he has a clean bill of health.

“In my mind,” he said, “I didn’t think I was going to play, just because I didn’t think my ankle was ready.  But I got cleared to go.  Once I got that news it was all systems go, doing everything I possibly can to get ready for, you know, today’s match.”

Right now, Isner says the ankle is about 90 percent, but his legs are not in game shape after missing the last few weeks due to the injury. He felt it on the court today and feels he has to have a few matches before he gets back into full tournament shape.

“The issue when you hurt your ankle, everything else shuts down,” he said.  So that’s just what happens.  So I’ve just got to rebuild the strength in my legs.  That was the issue tonight. Because when you have that hurt ankle you’re not able to put any weight on it for a long time.  Everything on the right side of my body was shut down.  I have to get to the point where my left and right side are moving the same.”

The injury may have been a blessing in disguise for the 18^th seed as he was able to stay away from the limelight the last few weeks. He needed to take time off after Wimbledon to unwind and even turned his phone off for a few days.

“I went into the Atlanta tournament and felt pretty good out there,” he said.  “But then when I went to play D.C. it all kind of hit me.  Either it was that match, kind of everything I did after the match, you know, a lot of interviews and whatnot, it kind of all just hit me.  I kind of ran out of gas in D.C.

“From there, I didn’t play Toronto.  I knew I needed to take some time off like completely.  That’s what I did.  I went home to North Carolina, turned my phone off for four days, got spoiled by my mom.  Then I went into Cincinnati feeling great.  Been hitting the ball great, just playing my best tennis.  Unfortunately I hurt my ankle.”

But now he’s back and enjoying his new found fame from the Eternal Match. Ironically, though, the first person he saw when he walked into the player’s lounge at Arthur Ashe was his opponent Nicholas Mahut .

“It was the first time I’ve seen him in person since the match,” Isner recalled.  What was it?  Monday morning, I didn’t fly into New York until Sunday night, so Monday midday I came to the courts for the first time.

“As soon as I stepped into the locker room, honestly he was the first person I saw.  We did the handshake, high five thing.  Sat and talked for about five minutes.  And ever since then, I keep running into him in the locker room and we talk.  I talk to his coaches.  He talks to my coach.

“Obviously, we’re definitely good friends now.”

So today when she dropped the first set to Jamilla Groth, 4-6, you had to wonder if the good Maria was back or the bad Maria, who struggled since coming back from shoulder surgery, was still around.

“I think she came out today and really swung and didn’t give me much time to do anything out there,” Sharapova said after taking the next two sets, 6-3 6-1. “She served really well in the first set.  I wasn’t returning that well, giving her a lot of looks, you know, on second serves.

“Against a player like that, who kind of plays the 1‑2 punch type of tennis, you know, it’s quite difficult to get a rhythm in the beginning.

“You know, I just hung in there.  Between the first and second set, I knew that it wasn’t over.  In tennis you have either two or three sets to play.  So I still knew I had my chances.”

Sharapova then dominated and cruised to the win. She needs to send a message as a potential Quarterfinal with No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki looms early next week.

But first she needs to continue to finish her matches strong. Next up is Iveta Benesova in the second round and as of right now, she is still trying to find her form in this Open.

“Based on my results in the past,” she said, “I’ve been in different situations coming into a Grand Slam playing really well in the beginning, playing well throughout, or starting quite slow and then finding my game throughout.

“So it depends.  It really depends on the tournament, the situation, your opponent, really getting through matches.  Days like this where your opponent was playing really well, you really have to find, you know, ways to hang in there and ways to fight.  And at the end of the day, just hope you give yourself another opportunity.”

Sharapova actually looks the strongest since she had shoulder surgery back in Oct. 2008. When she came back last year, her serve looked weak as she was recovering from the injury. But now, she’s fully healthy and time to turn the page.

“Yeah, last year with my whole game, I was just trying to find, you know, where my feet were on the ground, just trying to find my position, see how I could handle playing a lot of matches under different circumstances,” she said. “You know, this year, you know, a whole year with the tournaments and experience, it feels really good to be healthy coming in, just playing and not worrying about, uhm, how physically you feel.”

In 2010, Sharapova took two smaller tournaments the first was in February in Memphis and then right before Roland Garros in Strasberg. But these smaller tourneys are not what she’s looking for. Not with three Grand Slams under her belt, yet none since the surgery.

“Experience helps,” she said.  “But, I don’t know, it’s really at the end of the day about going out there and doing it and finding the mental strength, the physical strength, you know, challenging yourself to go out there and be better every day.”

And today Groth learned that from Sharapova and now Benesova is in her the way of the Great Maria Comeback.