Capriati Moves To Semifinals

NOTE: Random Thoughts will reappear next week. For the past week and a half, something fantastic has been going on in Queens, New York -- the U.S. Open. Now that the early rounds are done and the tournament is into the second week, some marquee matchups are taking place. Tonight was no exception with #3 seed Serena Williams facing #8 seed Jennifer Capriati in Arthur Ashe Stadium -- Flushing's version of Centre Court. This match was a three set beauty, with Williams coming out on fire and winning the first set 6-2. Capriati came right back and took the second set 6-4, setting up yet another three set match between these two. (Of their previous 16 meetings, 10 had gone the distance.) The third set was marred by several bad calls that went against Williams, including one that saw the chair umpire completely brick on the score. To her credit, though, she fought through all of the nonsense and tied the set at 4 games apiece before falling 6-4 in the third. In her post-match press conference, Williams was still upset about the calls and the umpire. "I'm very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed," Williams said. Perhaps if Williams had committed a few less unforced errors -- 57 in this match, compared to 93 in her previous four matches combined -- the match may not have gone three sets and she could have walked off the court a winner. Capriati now looks forward to a semifinal matchup on Thursday against #6 seed Elena Dementieva who ousted #2 seed Amelie Mauresmo in three sets earlier in the day. Not to be outdone in terms of marquee matchups, Wednesday night features a tremendous pairing on the men's side with #1 seed Roger Federer playing #6 seed Andre Agassi in Arthur Ashe Stadium.