Bubble bursts for Roddick

ANDY Roddicks US Open is over sooner than expected,beaten 7-6 3 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 5 by fellow American John Isner....

ANDY Roddicks US Open is over sooner than expected,beaten 7-6 3 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 5 by fellow American John Isner.

Coming off a close-as-could-be loss in the Wimbledon final,Roddick came to Flushing Meadows with a rebuilt game and great self-belief. Running into strong-serving,6-foot-9 Isner in the third round proved too much to handle. The 55th-ranked Isner smacked 38 aces to beat the No 5-seeded Roddick.

Its the first time Isner has reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament. Roddick,in contrast,won the 2003 US Open and has been the runner-up at a major four times,most recently at the All England Club in July.

Its tough. I dont know if Ive come to a tournament into a Slam with as much confidence as I did with this tournament, Roddick said. Leaving earlier than I want to.

Roddick broke Isners serve twice and was only broken once himself. His groundstrokes were clean,with only 20 unforced errors 32 fewer than Isner. Roddick won 162 points,Isner 155.

Isner missed three months from mid-April to mid-July with mononucleosis.

Pushed off the main stadium because of time concerns,No 1 Dinara Safina was beaten in the third round by 72nd-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4 2-6 7-6 5.

Safinas missed chances

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Ahead 6-5 in the third set,Safina had three match points but lost them all. She blamed herself for that. But she also complained about the court change. From my side,I can say,Im No. 1 player in the world,why did they move me? Safina said. They just told us,Were switching you to Armstrong. And basically thats it, Safina said. And its very unfair.

Serena Williams,meanwhile,is still waiting for her first true test of this US Open. The defending champions fourth-round match was competitive for all of four games on Sunday,before Williams took 10 in a row to beat No 22-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-2 6-0. With the score 2-all against Hantuchova,Williams hit three aces to hold for a 3-2 lead and she wouldnt lose a game the rest of the way. She has won all eight sets shes played this year at Flushing Meadows.

I tried to relax, Williams said after improving to 8-1 against Hantuchova over their careers. Sometimes Im such a perfectionist,I too much stress on myself. I was like,Serena,relax!

Paes,Bhupathi in quarters

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes breezed into the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event with their respective partners following straight-set wins. Top seeds Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber eased past Jill Craybas and Eric Butorac of USA 6-3 6-3 in a 54-minute second-round match.

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The second-seeded combination of Paes and Zimbabwes Cara Black saw off Italian Flavia Pennetta and Serb Dusan Vemic 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter-final with seventh seeds Rennae Stubbs of Australia and Swedens Robert Lindstedt.

Results seeds

Men: 24-Juan Carlos Ferrero bt 9-Gilles Simon 1-6 6-4 7-6 1-0 ret; 1-Roger Federer bt 31-Lleyton Hewitt 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4; 4-Novak Djokovic bt Jesse Witten 6-7 2 6-3 7-6 2 6-3; John Isner bt 5-Andy Roddick 7-6 3 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 5; 8-Nikolay Davydenko bt Marco Chiudinelli 6-4 7-5 7-5; 10-Fernando Verdasco bt 20-Tommy Haas 3-6 7-5 7-6 8 1-6 6-4; 12-Robin Soderling bt 22-Sam Querrey 6-2 7-5 6-7 6 6-1; 14-Tommy Robredo bt 21-James Blake 7-6 2 6-4 6-4; 15-Radek Stepanek bt 23-Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3

Women: 2-Serena Williams bt 22-Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-0; Petra Kvitova bt 1-Dinara Safina 6-4 2-6 7-6 5; 6-Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Shahar Peer 7-5 6-1; 9-Caroline Wozniacki bt 24-Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2; 13-Nadia Petrova bt 21-Zheng Jie 6-4 6-1; Melanie Oudin bt 29-Maria Sharapova 3-6 6-4 7-5