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The biggest upset yet to hit the 2008 U.S. Open came right at the top of the women's draw. Yesterday at Flushing Meadows, number-one seed and world number-one Ana Ivanovic tumbled out of the tournament, losing in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) to French qualifier Julie Coin. The Frenchwoman, ranked 188 in the WTA standings, did a great job in winning her match... but with thirty-four unforced errors, Ivanovic handed away this match as much as Coin claimed it as her own. The current top women's player, still recovering her match fitness after a right thumb injury kept her out of several tournaments prior to the Open, never seemed comfortable in this final Grand Slam of 2008. As I said after the first round, world and tournament number-two, Jelena Jankovic, was the Serb who had a much easier time of getting past the opening round. Coin looked composed throughout, though she got sloppy in the second set and allowed Ivanovic to pull even. In the third set, though, the qualifier clearly bested the contender. "I don't realise yet that I beat the number one in the world," Coin said after closing out the Cinderella story. "I don't realise that I played at the big court. I don't know how I'm going sleep tonight. I don't know when I will realise everything. Maybe at the end the tournament when I'm going to be done with it." Coin faces her countrywoman, Amelie Mauresmo, in the third round after the latter's three-set victory over Estonian Kaia Kanepi (2-6, 6-4, 6-0)... but even if the story ends there, Julie will forever have the tale of her big win over the world's top player at a Grand Slam to pass down to the younger Coin generations...

... and the other contenders who did go through to the third round can breathe a little bit easier with another big name tumbling. Both Williams sisters are through -- Serena with a straight-set drubbing (6-1, 6-1) of Elena Vesnina, Venus with an equally-impressive win (6-0, 6-3) over Rossana De Los Rios -- and are joined by Lindsay Davenport (7-5, 6-3 over Alisa Kleybanova) as the only remaining American hopefuls in the women's draw. Bethanie Mattek, predictably, tumbled in straight sets to Alize Cornet. But American hopes are still bright, quality over quantity, as both Williams and Davenport are all past U.S. Open champions and have many Grand Slam titles among the trio. They all should go through to the next round... but then again that's what we said about Ivanovic. Serena faces Ai Sugiyama in the third round, who advanced over Olga Govortsova (6-4, 6-7, 6-1); Venus takes on Alyona Bondarenko, a winner in three sets over Sabine Katharina Lisicki (6-4, 1-6, 6-4); and Davenport takes on the toughest challenge of all in the higher-seeded Marion Bartoli, who looked great in disposing of Virginia Ruano Pascual in the last round (6-4, 6-2). 

Others who were fortunate enough to survive the death trap of the second round included Jelena Jankovic, who lost a second-set tiebreak to Sofia Arvidsson before taking the match in the third; Elena Dementieva, who dropped only three games against Pauline Parmentier (6-2, 6-1); Agnieszka Radwanska, who took care of Mariana Duque Marino in straight sets (6-0, 7-6); and Dinara Safina, who made short work of Roberta Vinci (6-4, 6-3). Any one of these four could pose the a serious challenge. Then again, any one of them could be the next big name to fall. Jankovic looked less fresh than in the opening round, after all. Mauresmo is still rounding back into form. And even Serena Williams, who has looked nothing if not dominant all throughout the tournament so far, has even said of her third round opponent, Ai Sugiyama, "She's pretty much relentless. I better be ready. That girl is a tough cookie."

Now that Ivanovic has opened their eyes, every one of these ladies must remain vigilant against every opponent. The U.S. Open continues its march of attrition today as the men finish the second round and the women start up the third. Stay tuned here at Bigalke Presents for all the action...

RESULTS - SECOND ROUND - WOMEN

J. Coin d. (1) A. Ivanovic -- 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

(32) A. Mauresmo d. K. Kanepi -- 2-6, 6-4, 6-0

(19) N. Petrova d. S. Hsieh -- 6-4, 6-2

(16) F. Pennetta d. S. Peng -- 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), 6-1

A. Groenefeld d. J. Moore -- 6-1, 6-3

(17) A. Cornet d. B. Mattek -- 7-6 (7-5), 6-1

T. Bacsinszky d. Y. Chan -- 6-3, 6-2

(6) D. Safina d. R. Vinci -- 6-4, 6-3

(4) S. Williams d. E. Vesnina -- 6-1, 6-1

(30) A. Sugiyama d. O. Govortsova -- 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1

S. Bremond d. (20) N. Vaidisova -- 7-5, 6-3

T. Garbin d. (13) A. Szavay -- 5-7, 6-2, 6-3

(9) A. Radwanska d. M. Duque Marino -- 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)

(18) D. Cibulkova d. R. Olaru -- 6-2, 6-2

(27) A. Bondarenko d. S. Lisicki -- 6-4, 1-6, 6-4

(7) V. Williams d. R. De Los Rios -- 6-0, 6-3

(5) E. Dementieva d. P. Parmentier -- 6-2, 6-1

A. Keothavong d. (25) F. Schiavone -- 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

N. Li d. S. Errani -- 4-6, 6-2, 6-0

E. Makarova d. E. Bychkova -- 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

(15) P. Schnyder d. A. Pavlyuchenkova -- 6-3, 6-3

M. Rybarikova d. T. Paszek -- 6-1, 6-2

(28) K. Srebotnik d. Y. Meusburger -- 6-1, 6-3

(3) S. Kuznetsova d. S. Cirstea -- 7-6 (7-3), 6-1

T. Perebiynis d. (8) V. Zvonareva -- 6-3, 6-3

(29) S. Bammer d. A. Rezai -- 6-1, 7-5

(23) L. Davenport d. A. Kleybanova -- 7-5, 6-3

(12) M. Bartoli d. V. Ruano Pascual -- 6-4, 6-2

(14) V. Azarenka d. I. Benesova -- 6-2, 6-3

(21) C. Wozniak d. M. Camerin -- 6-1, 6-2

Z. Jie d. (26) A. Medina Garrigues -- 6-1, 6-4

(2) J. Jankovic d. S. Arvidsson -- 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5