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 to be a grudge match but turned into an exhibition of mostly mundane tennis, Spirlea defeated Williams 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 Friday night to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open.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's next opponent will be No. 3 Jana Novotna, a Wimbledon champion no longer burdened by past failures. As she wins, Novotna finally is doing something that once seemed so remote - having fun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.