Tennis Anyone?

The stars came out this evening, a beautiful weather night, for the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, in Flushing Meadows, Queens. With everyone from Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, Martha Stewart, Judd Hirsch, Tony Bennett, Anna Wintour and Oscar de la Renta, sprinkled in plum seating around the stadium, spectators weren't sure whether to scout for celebrities or gape at the amazing action on the court.

I was a guest of Lexus, and from the automaker's luxury suite (where I had the chance to chat with Martina Navratilova, had a perfect line of sight from which to witness it all, not least of which was the phenomenal victory of number-twelve seed Venus Williams over number-three seed Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia. Her win, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6, had the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium going wild. The intense (though polite) match between Jankovic and Williams was but a prelude to the rivalry between brusque American Andy Roddick (vexingly, the clear crowd favorite) and the number-one seed, Roger Federer, of Switzerland. Watching Federer is such a treat...he glides over the court like a dancer and his effortless choreography steadily overcame Roddick's one ace in the hole, his powerhouse serve. Federer took the match in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-2 Phenomenal weather. Stars aplenty. Fierce match play. And lots of happy campers in luxury suites. Nearly everyone left smiling tonight. Even Jankovic seemed to be at peace with her loss and sounded genuinely pleased for Williams. Perhaps the only one to walk out of the stadium with a frown on his face was A-Rod. Maybe next year, Andy. %%showphotos [setid=72157602750880635]%%