In the first set, it looked like it might happen. Everything that Mardy Fish said before the match--his "absolute" confidence--suddenly made sense.

Until it didn't. Nadal made extremely quick work of Fish after dropping the first set. It was just an overwhelming blitz of slicker, faster stronger tennis from the No. 1 player in the world.

By time the match ended, at a little after 2 a.m., the crowd was mostly gone from Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the few unlucky souls left had to battle overeager livery cab drivers who wanted to charge $55+ for a ride anywhere in Brooklyn, and far more for Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Nadal's next test, Andy Murray, should be much tougher, but Nadal has been on this stage before and he's this close to making it to his third consecutive Grand Slam final.

I just caught up with the retired American Todd Martin to talk about the Mardy Fish-Rafael Nadal match later tonight.

Martin has been in Fish's shoes a million times: playing someone who is clearly very much better than him, needing to figure out a way to grind his way to a victory.

When I asked him about it, Martin said the match-up favors Fish more than one might think.

Observer: What are your thoughts on Nadal-Fish?

Martin: It seems fairly clear that this court is the quickest of the four Grand Slams, which is only good for Mardy's sake primarily because the point can start well off his serve.  read more »

Mardy Fish has the biggest match of his career later tonight against Rafael Nadal. When asked about it on Monday in a press conference, he said Rafa might be afraid of him.

"Absolutely, absolutely," he said in a briefer when asked if he was confident. "I feel like a guy with my style of play is someone that [Nadal] doesn't want to see."

The way Fish plays--lightning quick, serve-and-volley tennis--is what he feels is his greatest weapon.

"You got to be able to finish points quickly. [Nadal] is going to last longer than anybody.He wants to keep points as long as possible and run the guys down, kind of body blow after body blow.  read more »

You've gotta love the Americans' love for the U.S. Open. Mardy Fish, with his best Grand Slam ever, just beat Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in a flawless match. Asked on the court after his match how much he wanted to win here, he said, "I desperately wanted to do well here. Desperately."

Winner of Rafa-Querrey up next for Fish in the quarters.

Honestly, this might be the best day at the Open in years. Each marquee match offers a lot:

Mardy Fish v. Gael Monfils:

Fish is finally coming into form with an impressive victory over James Blake, and now he plays the wonderfully entertaining Gael Monfils who had that fantastic run to the French Open semis this year. Our pick: MONFILS

Rafael Nadal v. Sam Querrey:

We've fallen in love with Querrey, and with some crowd support he should be able to give Nadal a run. But we're still rooting for Nadal because the propsect of that Nadal-Federer final is just far too attractive an idea.  read more »

James Blake, the darling of the U.S. Open's pre-tournament publcity tour, has been dropped in the third round. Mardy Fish, the young American always waiting for his big break, defeated Blake last night in three fairly easy sets, 6-3. 6-3. 7-6.

Last year at this time we were talking about young Americans John Isner and Donald Young; this year we've got Fish and Querrey in the Round of 16. This looks so much more promising.

James Blake and Mardy Fish are close friends -- Blake will even be one of the groomsmen at Fish's wedding in September -- but they'll put that aside for a couple of hours to face each other in the third round. "No matter what happens," Blake said, "we're gonna be friends afterwards." He said that they'd likely be going to dinner after the match, and "maybe the winner'll have to pay." Fish will be there after riding his powerful serve to an upset victory over 24th-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fish's first serve percentage was 60%, and he won 85% of those points.  read more »

After last night's exhilarating action, we've got some great tennis to follow up.

At 11am, Justine Henin plays at Ashe while Novak Djokovic plays at Louis Armstrong. In the afternoon, Ana Ivanovic, Tim Henman, Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams all play.

Lleyton Hewitt will play on Louis Armstrong at night, while Venus Williams and the injured Rafael Nadal play at Ashe.

Match to watch for: Mardy Fish v. Tommy Robredo at 1pm on Ashe. Fish is hot and he gets the big stage to take on the nunmber 8 player in the world. A solid chance for a major upset.