Seems like old times--Schnyder and Sharapova meet again

Just like old times, staying up for hours
Making dreams come true, doing things we used to do
Seems like old times being here with you

"Seems Like Old Times"--Carmen Lombardo & John Jacob Loeb

photo by Diane Elayne Dees

The sight of Patty Schnyder, one of my favorite players of all time, whipping that loopy forehand on the Louis Armstrong Stadium Court tonight would have been an emotional occasion for me under any circumstance. But to see Maria Sharapova on the other side of the net really made me think that I was back in 2008, the last time Schnyder and Sharapova played each other.

There was a sadness for me, seeing these two, neither of whom is the player she used to be. But it also made me happy to see them together.

Schnyder let a sub-par Sharapova run away with the first set and a half of their first-round U.S. Open match. Then the former Swiss star woke up and started taking advantage of Sharapova's error-filled game. She took that set all the way to a tiebreak, but then her own errors did her in. Sharapova won, 6-2, 7-6, and advanced to the second round.

But the 2006  champion will have to clean up her game considerably if she expects to keep advancing. Her next opponent is the mercurial Sorana Cirstea, who--from time to time--has served as a giant-killer in majors. It's been a while since Cirstea has done that, however, and Sharapova isn't looking like a giant. Still, the Russian has been known to turn the switch on when we least expect it.

The very entertaining match of the day was played between Andrea Petkovic and 10th seed Alona Ostapenko. It was a bit of a roller coaster affair, with Petkovic coming back and coming back, just when Ostapenko appeared to have the match clinched. In the end, after two hours and 18 minutes, Ostapenko won, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. She hit 38 winners and made 60 unforced errors, but that isn't an unusual statistic for the "swing like there's no tomorrow" Latvian.

Not surprisingly, Timea Babos gave Daria Kasatkina a hard time. After playing three sets, Kasatkina advanced, as did Petra Kvitova, Madison Keys, Angie Kerber, Kiki Bertens, Caroline Wozniacki--and 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva.

Also taken out today were Jo Konta, 24th seed CoCo Vandeweghe, and 28th seed Anett Kontaveit. Seeds and other notables who made an exit yesterday were 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Aga Radwanska, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 31st seed Magdalena Rybarikova--and, of course, top seed Simona Halep.