Spirlea Sends Serena Packin'

No bumping. No cursing. And not much intensity until a dramatic final two games that left Irina Spirlea pumping her fists in triumph and Serena Williams walking dejectedly to her chair.

In what promised

Spirlea had collided with Serena's older sister, Venus, during a changeover while losing in the semifinals last year. The incident led Spirlea to curse Venus Williams after that match, and Richard Williams -- the father of Serena and Venus -- to label Spirlea "a big, tall white turkey."

Richard Williams also said at that time that Spirlea "ought to be glad it wasn't Serena she bumped into. She would have been decked."

But there were no fireworks or fistfights Friday night. The players carefully avoided each other on changeovers, though they exchanged only a perfunctory handshake after the match.

"Tonight was not my night. That was the best she served in her career. I didn't play that well. She had a lot of big serves I was not able to return," Williams said. "I'm pretty disappointed. I didn't plan on losing today or in this tournament."

The ninth-seeded Spirlea screamed after the final point and swatted a ball high into the stands. Her victory kept up the pattern of favorites moving easily through the tournament -- only two seeded women and three seeded men have been eliminated so far.

Spirlea won the first set in 28 minutes, hardly enough time for uys in the corporate boxes to remove their pinstriped jackets and Wall Street power ties. One fan yelled "turkey" as the set ended.

Williams became more aggressive in the second set, and stayed even early in the third set with some acrobatic saves on which she ran down Spirlea's shots into the corners.

After one Williams save resulted in Spirlea netting an overhead, Spirlea slammed her racket on the court in disgust as Venus Williams celebrated in the stands.

With the score 5-5 in the third set, Spirlea used two passing shots to set up the service break. She followed that up by holding her serve for the match, including her sixth ace. Williams had just three aces in the match, and committed 19 unforced errors in the final set.

Spirlea said there is no animosity between her and the Williams family. But when asked whether she was friendly enough to go out to dinner with Serena, she demurred.

"I don't have time for dinner tonight," she cracked. "I'll call her and have her in my room for room service."

Top-seeded Martina Hingis faced a familiar predicament against Amelie Mauresmo, and came up with a familiar response.

Down by a set against Mauresmo for the second time this summer, the world's top player again ran off an impressive streak to reach the fourth round. The top-seeded Hingis, who had not lost a set in the U.S. Open since 1996, rallied to defeat Mauresmo 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Hingis trailed Mauresmo by a set and 4-1 in the second set of a Federation Cup match in Switzerland in July before rallying to win. This time, Hingis was down by a set and tied 1-1 in the second before winning 11 of the last 14 games.

"The first set I guess I was still in practice," Hingis said. "Then I said to myself, `Hey, girl, wake up. You don't want to go back home.'"

Hingis had six double faults and was out-aced 5-1 by Mauresmo, but never appeared worried. During a changeover early in the second set, Hingis mentioned to a ballgirl that she liked her uniform.

Jana Novotna, no longer burdened by past failures,

Novotna has a grip on the U.S. Open's early rounds. (AP)

Novotna, who beat Sandrine Testud 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round, until this summer had been known mostly for defeats in Wimbledon finals in 1993 and 1997 in which she squandered big leads.

"I think that after winning Wimbledon, yes, I have completed my career," she said. "An enormous dream came true for me and I am just looking forward to playing more and enjoying it more. I am just feeling incrediby relieved and just happy of what I have achieved."

Also advancing with little trouble to the fourth round was No. 6 Monica Seles, who won 6-3, 6-3 over Annie Miller. Seles is one victory from a probable encounter with Hingis in the quarterfinals.

Steffi Graf reached the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in 43 minutes over Mirjana Lucic in which she won nine straight games. Graf, the No. 8 seed, made just seven unforced errors to 33 for Lucic.

Lucic had eight double faults, often missing serves by several feet. At one point in the second set, she stood at the service line and shrugged.

When Lucic whiffed on a serve by Graf in the final game of the match, a fan yelled "strike one."

"It was like a nightmare, that's what it was like out there today," Lucic said. "I totally missed the ball, that didn't happen when I was 31/2 years old."

No. 14 Dominique Van Roost lost 6-4, 6-2 to Kimberly Po. The only other women's seed ousted so far is No. 16 Ai Sugiyama, who pulled out in the second round with a sprained ankle.

Among the women advancing Friday was No. 11 Patty Schnyder, a 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) winner over Mary Joe Fernandez.

Winners among the men were No. 2 Marcelo Rios, No. 5 Richard Krajicek, No. 7 Alex Corretja, No. 11 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and No. 13 Tim Henman.

The success by seeded men is in stark contrast to the upsets at the two previous Grand Slams.

Seven of the top eight men's seeds have made it to the third round, compared to just three at Wimbledon and one at the French Open.

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