I returned to the National Tennis Center for the middle Sunday, courtesy of an invitation from my pal Tom. Tom was accompanied by his brother, Tim (no, their last name is not Gullikson), and by Tom's son, Max. Against his brother's advice, Tom brought a backpack to the grounds. The security people were having nothing of it, even though they allowed much larger duffel bags onto the grounds. I guess the theory is that they don't want a terrorist setting off a bomb while holding it on his back. A little prestidigitation took care of the problem. Tom emptied the backpack and carried everything on his person; he folded up the backpack and put it under Max's sweatshirt.

But that was not all. Max had brought his racquet, so that he could test the speed gun. An officious security person said that no racquets are allowed on the grounds. Well, that could make for a whole new version of tennis. (What's the concern here -- that a terrorist will hack his way through the crowd?) Fortunately, the security person who expressed this opinion was on a different line, and our security person let the racquet go. Considering how many racquets are sold at the US Open, it was probably the right call.

I didn't spend as much time as I might have liked with my pals. My priorities were to stay out of the sun and see some players who don't show up on television. It's a chance to enjoy some players we don't ordinarily see, and often to see a more competitive match. In light of the ATP's wrong-headed attempt to eviscerate doubles, I wanted to support the doubles game, too. Thus, I started on the Grandstand, where the 11th-seeded Israeli team of Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich was taking on the Americans Amer Delic and Jeff Morrison. I grabbed a seat with a back on the shaded side of the court. (The seat back helped my balky back, but not enough. By the end of the day, I was struggling.)

My first observation was that these seemed like serious doubles players, because each team wore matching clothing. Later, I saw the very good team of Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyet, who did not match.

Both teams played a lot of I-formation on the first serve, with the net man crouching. Rarely, however, did the net man poach and the server switch sides.

The first crisis of serve in the first set came with Morrison serving at 5-6, 30-30. Delic netted a backhand volley, and it was set point. A long exchange ensued, with Ram missing a backhand pass for deuce. Delic punched a backhand volley wide, and it was set point again. Ram netted his return of Morrison's first serve, and it was deuce. A missed return by Erlich was followed by an Erlich reflex backhand volley winner, for another deuce. Thereafter, Ram lobbed long and Erlich dumped a forehand pass into the net, so we went to a tiebreak.

Erlich had the first serve, and Morrison netted his backhand return, so it was 1-0 for the Israelis. Delic served next. He tried to hit an overhead off a low-bouncing lob, and he put it into the net. 2-0. Erlich's return of Delic's second serve was long. 2-1. Ram served, and Delic's forehand return clipped the tape and hopped over Erlich's racquet. 2-2. Morrison's forehand return was long. 3-2. Morrison took over the serve and double-faulted. 4-2. Morrison put away an overhead. 4-3. Erlich served, and Delic's forehand return was long. 5-3. On the next point, Morrison's backhand return found the net. 6-3. Delic served, and a long point ensued, with Morrison's backhand volley sailing long for 7-3 and the set.

Ram served into the sun for the first time (other than briefly in the tiebreak) in the 0-1 game. He struggled, falling behind 0-30 and 30-40. But Delic netted a backhand pass on break point, Ram followed with an ace wide to Morrison's forehand, and Delic was long with a backhand pass for 1-1.

Erlich had his own crisis at 1-2, going from 30-15 to 30-40. He wiggled free with an ace up the T to Delic's forehand, a Morrison backhand return that went long, and an ace wide to Delic's backhand.

Delic struggled in the 3-3 game. At 15-15, a strong return by Erlich set up a winning forehand volley by Ram. Morrison then put a forehand volley into the net for 15-40. On break point, Erlich hit another good return, this time off a second serve, and Delic popped up his half-volley. Ram cut it off and put it up the middle for the decisive break, 4-2.

Morrison served to stay alive at 3-5. At 15-15, Delic netted a backhand volley. Erlich poached and put away a backhand volley for 15-40 and two match points. Morrison saved one with a second-serve ace wide to Erlich's forehand. But on 30-40, Ram hit a big forehand return, and Delic netted his volley. The final score was 7-6 6-3.

I stayed on the Grandstand for a while to watch the first set of Dominik Hrbaty versus David Ferrer, the 15th and 17th seeds, respectively. As I'd seen from him before, Hrbaty has a very high toss. He offered something new this time, strategically placed air holes in his shorts and in the back of his shirt, which had a pink front. It was a very strange look. Ferrer was more conventional, with a backward baseball cap his sole fashion statement.

Hrbaty's groundstrokes are more penetrating than Ferrer's, but he also makes more errors. In short, Hrbaty was finishing most of the points, one way or the other.

Ferrer had trouble serving at 5-6, going from 40-0 to deuce, but he pulled out the game with a service winner and a Hrbaty backhand return that went wide. Hrbaty took a quick 1-0 lead in the tiebreak, when Ferrer's forehand return went long. On the second point, there was a long rally, and Hrbaty missed a forehand wide. 1-1. Ferrer coughed up a mini-break, hitting a forehand long. 2-1, Hrbaty. Hrbaty gave it right back with a forehand that found the net. 2-2. In a rare foray to the net, Hrbaty won his next service point with a crosscourt forehand volley. 3-2. On Ferrer's serve, Hrbaty's backhand return went long. 3-3. Hrbaty then hit a backhand groundstroke long, and it was 4-3. Hrbaty got to 4-4 by moving Ferrer from side to side in a long rally and finishing the point with a forehand volley into the open court. Ferrer's forehand went wide, and it was 5-4 for Hrbaty as Ferrer resumed serving. After a long rally, Ferrer put a backhand into the net, and suddenly faced two set points at 4-6. He saved one when Hrbaty's forehand was long. On Hrbaty's serve at 6-5, Ferrer's return clipped the tape and barely came over. Hrbaty replied with a backhand that went long, and it was 6-6. Ferrer was just long with a forehand pass, and Hrbaty had a third set point at 7-6. But Ferrer now resumed the serve and got to 7-7 when Hrbaty's forehand return went wide. Ferrer pasted a backhand crosscourt for 8-7. On Hrbaty's serve, his backhand clipped the tape and went wide, so Ferrer won the tiebreak, 9-7. After I left, Hrbaty took the match with three consecutive 7-5 sets.

I went to the Stadium for a bit of Lleyton Hewitt and Taylor Dent. Today, both big video monitors in Ashe were working. Also, this time the ticket-taker took my ticket stub; last week, that was not done.

I don't like to watch either of the players: Dent, because of his style of play (all or nothing at the net), and Hewitt because of his manner (no one ever called him gracious). I arrived in the fourth set with Dent up two sets to one but down a break at 1-2. Hewitt later grabbed a second break for a 4-1 lead and cruised to a 6-2 win in the set with nary a shout of "C'mon!" I'd had enough of the sun, even though the seats were very good, and moved on. I later caught the end of the match on TV outside one of the restaurants, with Hewitt finishing Dent off in a surprisingly close 7-5 set.

I trooped to Court 7, where I could at least get the sun at my back, for some more doubles. It was Thomas Johansson and Robbie Koenig against Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyet, the fourth seeds. When I arrived, Johansson and Koenig were up a set but down 3-0 in the second. Johansson and Koenig would not notch another game till Johansson served at 6-4 0-6 0- 5.

You may say that Johansson is a one-Slam wonder, but he has also won seven other singles tournaments, including the Canadian Open in 1999. And he will leave the game with his head high, because he's also a decent guy. After what must have been a frustrating loss, he stayed around to sign autographs and pose for photographs with fans. As for Black and Ullyet, they obviously know how to play doubles -- and when they play the I-formation, the server does sometimes cross with the net man.

My next stop was Armstrong, where I climbed high in the stadium to get some shade. Fernando Verdasco was serving to Novak Djokovic at 6-1 4-6 6- 7 4-3. Verdasco served out the fourth set, winning the final point on a long rally that he punctuated with a shout of "Vamos!" Djokovic quickly fell behind 15-40 in the first game of the fifth set. A Verdasco net cord forced Djokovic in, and then Verdasco passed with his forehand, dancing off the court. Verdasco fought off two break points in the long 1-0 game, each with a 132 mph ace up the T to Djokovic's forehand. Verdasco broke again for 3-0, winning a long break point that featured outstanding gets and lobs.

The players held serve till Verdasco served for the match at 5-2. Not so fast, Fernando: he threw in a double-fault and some other errors, and Djokovic had life with the break. On Verdasco's second try, Djokovic missed a backhand long after a long rally at 30-30. On match point, Djokovic took a big swing at his forehand and put it into the net. The players hugged at the net.

A red-shirted group of Thai fans set up shop in Armstrong before Verdasco finished off his match. They were there, with their thundersticks, to see Paradorn Srichaphan take on one of my favorites, the gray-haired 33-year-old Davide Sanguinetti. There are probably a lot more people in the New York area and at the US Open who claim Italian heritage than Thai. But the Italian-Americans (or Italian-Italians) were not out in force for Sanguinetti, whereas the Thais clobbered their thundersticks whenever Srichaphan won a point, except for Sanguinetti double- faults. The Thais were well disciplined in their use of the thundersticks: they'd bang away for a few seconds and then stop in time for the next point.

In the first set of what proved to be an epic match, things went quickly and Sanguinetti's magic had Srichaphan in its grasp. Srichaphan was working much harder than Sanguinetti, who typically put the ball back safely and waited for errors. Not only did the errors come, but the Srichaphan groundstrokes that landed in the court seemed magnetically attracted to wherever Sanguinetti was standing. The ball is quieter off Sanguinetti's racquet: he must string it rather loosely. The first break of serve came with Srichaphan serving at 2-2, 15-40, when he hit an approach shot long. Just to make sure, Sanguinetti broke again for the set at 3-5, as Srichaphan lost control from deuce, serving a double-fault and then hitting a forehand volley wide.

In the second and third sets, Srichaphan broke Sanguinetti's spell. Coming back from 0-2 in the second, Srichaphan started to elicit errors from Sanguinetti, breaking for 1-2 and again for 4-3. With Srichaphan serving for the set, Sanguinetti found his way to net on set point, but his stretch forehand volley ended up in the net, and the match was even.

Sanguinetti's struggles continued at the start of the third set. He escaped 15-40 plus two deuces to hold serve in the first game. On the second deuce, Sanguinetti won a great long point, playing defense until he could attack with a winning backhand. The backhand is Sanguinetti's best shot, usually struck crosscourt with a touch of topspin. In another deuce game, Srichaphan got a break at 3-3 when a long rally concluded with a Sanguinetti forehand in the net. But Sanguinetti broke back for 4-4 when Srichaphan double-faulted on break point.

Srichaphan broke again at 5-5, but Sanguinetti hung in. His tenacity and some Srichaphan errors resulted in another break -- again on a double-fault -- and we went to a tiebreak. On the first point, Sanguinetti served and Srichaphan hit a backhand long for 1-0. Srichaphan held his two service points with a Sanguinetti forehand pass that found the net and a backhand that went just long. Then Sanguinetti found real trouble, losing both his service points with a forehand wide and a backhand long. At 4-1, Srichaphan consolidated his lead, throwing in a 100 mph second serve that Sanguinetti returned long off his forehand and then crushing a forehand for a 6-1 lead. Sanguinetti saved one set point with a forehand drop shot followed by a stretch backhand volley, but then he put a forehand into the net and Srichaphan had the tiebreak, 7-2.

I was worn out, with my back aching, and decided to leave after a stroll around the grounds to loosen up. (When you're an amateur reporter, you can walk out in the middle of a match.) When I got home, I saw the players on television, with Srichaphan holding serve for 4-4 in the fifth. The next interesting moment came when Sanguinetti served at 5-5, 15-30. He hit a backhand drop volley for 30-30 and a big serve for 40-30. His forehand went long for deuce. His backhand clipped the tape and fell wide for a crucial break point. Sanguinetti pasted a short backhand crosscourt for a winner and deuce. Srichaphan missed a backhand wide but Sanguinetti netted a backhand volley for another deuce. Srichaphan's backhand pass clipped the tape and landed in for break point. On a very long point, Srichaphan tried a backhand up the line that went just long for deuce. Srichaphan netted a backhand, but Sanguinetti missed a backhand wide. Srichaphan's forehand went wide, and he netted a backhand; it was 6-5. Srichaphan then held at 30 with an ace up the T, and the players went to a decisive tiebreak.

Sanguinetti opened, and Srichaphan netted a backhand return of second serve. 1-0. Srichaphan served and volleyed successfully on the second ball, with Sanguinetti's backhand pass finding the net. 1-1. Sanguinetti got a mini-break when Srichaphan followed his serve in again and missed a backhand half-volley into the net. 2-1. Srichaphan got the mini-break right back with a crosscourt forehand for a winner. 2-2. On the next Sanguinetti service point, he came in, and Srichaphan's backhand pass found the net. It was 3-2 for Sanguinetti, who collapsed to the court with cramps (the match being more than four hours long at this point) but got up, walked it off, and continued. Srichaphan gave Sanguinetti another mini-break with a forehand that went long. 4-2. There followed a great point, with Sanguinetti lobbing Srichaphan and winning the point with a forehand drop volley for 5-2. The match was on Sanguinetti's racquet, and Srichaphan called the trainer to get his fingers taped. Of course, Srichaphan took back both mini-breaks. On the first point, Sanguinetti played great defense until Srichaphan finally nailed a backhand crosscourt for a winner. 5-3. Sanguinetti missed a forehand pass wide. 5-4. But Srichaphan missed a forehand on his next service point, and it was 6-4, two match points. He saved one when Sanguinetti missed a backhand long. On his serve, Sanguinetti opened the court with a backhand and then hit a forehand volley for the win, 7- 5.

The players, who had exchanged smiles during the memorable fifth set, embraced at the net with both smiling. Michael Barkan interviewed the winner, addressing him as "Davide," which he pronounced da-VEED. When I'd seen Sanguinetti beat Wayne Arthurs in the first round, the Italian fans exhorted him as DA-vee-DAY, and I think I'll go with their pronunciation. Or we can go with the name used by some American fans cheering on Sanguinetti during a three-set loss to Tim Henman at New Haven in 1998: Dave.

(c) Jerome Balsam