“It’s frustrating, but it’s the game of tennis,” Sharapova said. “A lot of swings in the match today. I had the lead and the advantage, but she picked up her game. And in the third set it had a lot to do with the returns. I didn’t do much on her service games — she was winning them pretty easily. Mine were quite long…It’s New York; it’s a Grand Slam; it’s the US Open. This is what you practice for, is to get in those situations and try to get out of them; today I just didn’t.”

The women’s semifinals are set at the US Open, will Serena Williams continue to dominate?

“For the first time in my career, I’m not sure what to say, said Roddick, struggling with his emotions as his wife, model and actress Brooklyn Decker, struggled to mask the flow of tears in the player’s box. “It’s been a road, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of great moments. I’ve appreciated your support along the way. I know I certainly haven’t made it easy for you at times, but I really do appreciate it and love you guys with all my heart. Hopefully I’ll come back to this place someday and see all of you again.”

Wozniacki is the lone returning champion, trying to win her fifth straight New Haven Open. A win this year for Wozniacki would put her in rarified company, as only three players have won a tournament title five years in a row — Chris Evert (Charleston), Steffi Graf (Hamburg), and Martina Navratilova (Eastbourne, Wimbledon and Chicago).

the Top 8 seeds receive first round byes, and tough openers include (15) Kohlschreiber vs. (WC) Baker, winner to meet the Harrison vs. Tomic victor; (10) Fish vs. F-Lo, (8) Monaco possibly vs. The Worm 2nd rd., (4) Ferrer possibly vs. Wawrinka 2nd rd., (14) Nishikori vs. Granoller, winner to possibly meet (WC) Blake; (11) Simon vs. Baghdatis, winner to meet Raonic vs. Gasquet victor; (6) Del Potro vs. Nalbandian/Haas winner, (9) Isner vs. Viktor Troicki, victor to face (WC) Hewitt vs. Mikhail Youzhny winner; (3) Murray possibly opening vs. (WC) Querrey, and (13) Dolgopolov vs. Davydenko

“I just really wanted to win that game,” Williams said of the 4-5 game in the first. “I was up in that game and had so many break points, but she played well on them and I was making some errors. And then she even had a set point. But I just hung in there and tried to do the best I could, and thankfully I won that first set…I think Coco played really well today. She has a really strong, solid game.”

A bunch of Top 10 players will be gunning for tour titles on Sunday, including Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.

Maria Sharapova bids for her career Slam against the surprising Sara Errani in the women’s French Open final.

Neither Sharapova nor Errani have appeared in the final at Roland Garros before, so the chances of the Sharapova service yips returning, or Errani feeling the moment, will loom large.

Maria Sharapova is on the verge of her own history weekend.