One of Wednesday morning's most intriguing matchups was largely overshadowed by the presence of star players on nearby practice courts. As many longtime attendees of the US Open know, the marquee names tend to do their practicing on courts P1 through P5, which are inaccessible to the public. The only way to get a reasonably good look at that action is by climbing to the top of the bleachers on Court 4. This works well enough during main draw action, as the USTA never schedules matches on the court until, appropriately enough, 4 PM. Qualifying, though, is a different story. As crafty veteran Kenneth Carlsen did battle with up-and-comer Sergiy Stakhovsky, play was repeatedly interrupted by the stomping of feet along the far end of the stands. Carlsen's suggestion that an official be stationed by the entrance on that side was only partially successful. Like a scene out of a zombie film, the herd of practice court aficionados began streaming in through an exit, eager for a look at the likes of Tommy Haas and Marat Safin.

Stakhovsky, a young Ukrainian who lost to Andy Murray in the 2004 US Open juniors final, possesses a nice, steady baseline game. He looks more than a little uncomfortable around the net, however. Missed backhand volleys betrayed Stakhovsky as he was broken twice in the opening set. Carlsen took advantage, serving out a 6-4 win of the set before departing for a bathroom break. The Danish lefty's trip to the john did little to stall his momentum. He hit a brilliant topspin lob winner, setting up a break point he'd convert for a 2-1 lead in the second. Frustration was mounting for Stakhovsky and it spilled over when an overrule went against him at 6-4, 4-2. Convinced that one of Carlsen's shots earlier in the same rally had landed long, Stakhovsky pleaded, "What the hell? This was out, that was out!"

Stakhovsky managed to save a match point in Game 8, holding for 3-5. An ace earned Carlsen two more match points at 40-15 in Game 9, but again he couldn't quite put away his young opponent. Carlsen earned a fourth match point, but lost it by slicing a backhand long. A missed call in the ensuing rally enraged Carlsen, who exclaimed, "This ball is so far out. So far out!" The Dane, who battled all the way to a fifth set tiebreak against Marcelo Rios at the Open some nine years ago, returned to the baseline and banged his racquet on the spot where he though Stakhovsky's shot had landed. Carlsen finally got back to business, though, winning two straight points to earn his fifth match point. That's when Stakhovsky finally caved in, awkwardly netting a defensive forehand to end it 6-4, 6-4. As they met at the net, the victorious 33-year-old gave his vanquished 20-year-old opponent an encouraging pat on the back with his racquet.

Out on Court 9, the heat, humidity, and strain of a long match were getting the better of Eva Hrdinova. Agonizingly close to victory with a 5-2 lead in the final set against Nathalie Vierin, Hrdinova experienced agonizing cramps in both of her thighs. The Czech would spend the rest of the match wincing, hobbling, and moaning in pain. She fought well, hanging in with Vierin through some long rallies and coming within two points of victory a couple times. However, Vierin came all the way back, prevailing 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. I take it the match hadn't been played in the most magnanimous of spirits, given the way Vierin reacted at the end. Rather than show any concern for Hrdinova, she jumped into the air, shouted something defiant sounding in Italian, and began muttering under her breath. Hrdinova, meanwhile, burst into tears and had to be consoled by a WTA Tour trainer before gingerly exiting the court.

Daniel Koellerer may not be a household name, but he already has quite a reputation on the challenger circuit. What kind of reputation? Well, for starters, Tomas Behrend and Hugo Armando circulated a petition asking the ATP to throw Koellerer off the tour. His allegedly rude, nasty behavior has gotten him fined, disqualified, and even punched (by Frederico Luzzi). This past March, the ATP finally went ahead and suspended the man they call "Crazy Dani" for six months. However, the ban doesn't apply to events run by the ITF, including Grand Slams, so Koellerer (who's managed to keep a Top 200 ranking by winning on the ITF futures circuit) remained eligible for US Open qualifying. And there he was on Wednesday afternoon, squaring off against Ivo Heuberger. Probably hoping to avoid major fireworks, the USTA had the good sense to give Steve Ullrich, one of the sport's most experienced and authoritative officials, the chair umpire assignment for this match.

With his multiple tattoos and wild facial hair, Koellerer looks like a rock musician (specifically, Travis Meeks from the neo-grunge band Days Of The New). Heuberger, meanwhile, is starting to go a little gray around the temples. Perhaps it's a side effect of the "Curse of Chucky," which seems to befall any professional athlete who dates Martina Hingis. Past victims include Julian Alonso (who virtually vanished after dating the Swiss Miss), Magnus Norman (forced into premature retirement by a largely unsuccessful hip surgery), and Sergio Garcia (perpetually stymied by his inability to win a major golf title). Heck, even Martina's current squeeze -- Radek Stepanek -- withdrew from this year's Open, citing a back injury. No wonder Heuberger, who famously frolicked in the Mediterranean surf with Hingis after her early loss at Wimbledon in 1999, had the bad luck to draw wild man Koellerer in the opening round.

Just two games in, Koellerer took an injury timeout and had his entire right foot taped. He seemed to be moving fine after that, but Heuberger did break him to take a 3-2 lead. Badly shanking balls in the sporadically windy conditions, Heuberger immediately gave the break back. Where Heuberger is fairly stiff and mechanical, Koellerer is all flash -- bouncing on his toes, springing up out of low crouches, repeatedly going to the drop shot well, and throwing in some theatrical flair whenever possible. Game 7 saw Koellerer hit an absolutely perfect between-the-legs lob...and actually win the point with it, as Heuberger missed the subsequent overhead. The very next point ended with Koellerer striking a balletic pose in midair as he let a Heuberger shot sail long. "It's like Cirque de Soleil!" one fan observed as Koellerer strutted to his chair with a 4-3 lead.

The rest of the opening set featured some flashes of temper (Heuberger throwing his racquet a couple times; Koellerer angrily punting a ball from one baseline to the other) and some athletic lunging volleys by the controversial Austrian. When the smoke cleared, it was time for a tiebreak...

DK serving: Koellerer unwisely lets a defensive Heuberger lob fall in -- 1-0 HEUBERGER

IH: A towering Heuberger mis-hit hangs in the air for ages before landing wide -- 1-1

IH: Heuberger nets a low backhand volley, whacks the ball into the woods, and gets a code violation warning -- 2-1 KOELLERER

DK: After steering a backhand wide, Heuberger bounces his racquet -- 3-1 KOELLERER

DK: Koellerer skids while hitting a delicately angled forehand pass for a winner -- 4-1 KOELLERER

IH: Off-forehand winner by Heuberger -- 4-2 KOELLERER

IH: Koellerer overwhelms Heuberger with a big forehand -- 5-2 KOELLERER

DK: Picture perfect backhand drop shot winner by Koellerer -- 6-2 KOELLERER

DK: Koellerer closes it out with a service winner -- 7-2 KOELLERER

A whippy topspin forehand winner allowed Koellerer to break for a 7-6, 2-1 lead and he didn't look back. After pulling ahead 5-3 in the second set, "Crazy Dani" raised his pointer finger, presumably indicating the number of games he had left to win. Heuberger stayed alive with a hold to 4-5, but Koellerer served it out in style, ripping one last forehand winner on match point to prevail 7-6, 6-4. Koellerer put his whole body into a fist pump and let out a primal scream. Immediately after shaking hands with Heuberger and Ullrich, he ran over to celebrate with his supporters. Koellerer then jogged back to his chair, pulled out his cell phone, and further shared the good news. Heuberger, meanwhile, was consoled -- and cheered up in no time flat -- by his fiancee Martha, who happens to be staggeringly beautiful. Maybe old Ivo's not so cursed after all.

One of the day's gutsier efforts unfolded on Court 11, where Lindsay Lee-Waters did battle with Neha Uberoi. In the year since her opening round loss to Ana Ivanovic in the 2005 US Open, Lee-Waters has managed to give birth to a second child and remarkably get back out on the pro tour. She doesn't even appear to have shed the last of her baby weight just yet, but Lee-Waters was grunting as loudly and competing as well as ever. She saved match points in the second yet, storming from behind to beat Uberoi 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.

One of the few other mothers on the WTA Tour had a less fruitful afternoon. Rossana De Los Rios, a 30-year-old Paraguayan using a protected injury ranking to take one more shot at Grand Slam success, couldn't get much of anything going on Court 4. Her diminutive, zaftig opponent Erika Takao wasn't doing anything special, but De Los Rios failed to keep the ball in play on one big point after another. Even her daughter Ana appeared to lose interest, lying down in the stands with her head resting on her shoulder. A discouraged looking De Los Rios ultimately lost by a final count of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Quick side note: we can now answer any "whatever happened to?" questions you might have regarding Anna Foldenyi, a stylish Hungarian whose career was plagued by ankle problems. Foldenyi, who's now married and working as a player agent, was courtside at the De Los Rios match, whispering away on a cell phone. With her pink cap, pink top, barbed wire tattoo, and gaudy, sparkling handbag, the 32-year-old could still pass for a member of the Spice Girls.

Presumptive last chances for former Top 100 players like De Los Rios became the recurring story of the afternoon. For instance, chronically comebacking Alexandra Stevenson drew quite a crowd on Court 8. The former Wimbledon semifinalist, winless in seven career matches at the US Open, needed a wild card just to get into the qualifying draw. Showing some hints of the big game that once made her a rising star, Stevenson gamely rallied from a 3-5 deficit to force a first set tiebreak against Tatiana Poutchek. Stevenson lost the 'breaker, however, and succumbed to a torrent of frustrated errors the rest of the way. Lori McNeil, who was keeping an eye on several of the American women, looked on ruefully as Poutchek prevailed 7-6, 6-1.

Might this also be a last chance of sorts for Younes El Aynaoui? The talented, charismatic Moroccan was once ranked as high as # 14 in the world, but the past few years have seen him mostly injured, inactive, and even suspended for marijuana use. Younes remains a crowd favorite, though, and fans were absolutely packed like sardines into Court 13 as the soon to be 35-year-old tried to resucitate his career. Standing in his way was an aggressive, 29th seeded Aussie named Peter Luczak, who took the opening set 6 games to 3.

El Aynaoui rode his big serve and monstrous forehand to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but played two awful, error-strewn games in a row to get Luczak back on serve at 5-4. A chant of "here we go, Younes, here we go" from his ardent supporters wasn't enough to get El Aynaoui's game back on track. Winning the last five games, Luczak struck a service winner on match point to take it 6-3, 7-5. The match ended with El Aynaoui looking very much like a dejected man who'd not found the answers he'd hoped to find at Flushing Meadows.

Toiling under twilight both literal and figurative, 35-year-old Wayne Arthurs and 33-year-old Antony Dupuis squared off into the early evening on Court 15. If you're a sucker for the kinds of carefully constructed rallies that rule the day at Roland Garros...um, this wasn't the match for you. Arthurs rarely had to hit a second ball after putting his vaunted first serve in play. Dupuis, likewise, was ending points quickly with his percussive, quick strike tennis.

In typical Arthurs fashion, the first two sets went to tiebreaks. The lanky Australian, who's openly contemplating retirement, took the opener 9 points to 7. Dupuis, who didn't even take tennis seriously until his late 20's, saved multiple match points before winning a virtually rally-free second set tiebreak 11 points to 9. Arthurs finally got the critical service break early in the third set and came up with some nifty volleys to serve out a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 win. In a day that saw so many veterans at the crossroads, the sweet serving Aussie stayed alive to rage against the dying of the light for at least one more round.