US Open Tennis 2011: Recapping Thursday's Results

If you like big-name players, and you like dominance, then you probably enjoyed Day 4 of the U.S. Open.

To name but a few, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki were all in action on Thursday at Flushing Meadows, and all four of them looked pretty darn good.

For more on them, and all the other key storylines from Thursday's action, all you need to do is keep reading.

Top Story

It's a toss-up, but you have to go with Djokovic's destruction of Carlos Berlocq. Djokovic didn't lose a single game in either of the first two sets, and then wrapped up the third set with relative ease to win 6-0, 6-0, 6-2. If his shoulder is still bothering him, it's not showing.

If that's Top Story 1, Top Story 1A would be the dominance that Serena showed in her match against Michaella Krajicek. Serena looked like her old self for the second match in a row, beating Krajicek 6-0, 6-1.

Elsewhere in the world of top stories, Federer beat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and Wozniacki beat Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-0.

Biggest Upset

It has to be Juan Carlos Ferrero's upset of No. 7 seed Gael Monfils. The veteran Spaniard and the 25-year-old Frenchman did battle for close to five hours, but it was Ferrero walking away the winner 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4.

On the women's side, the big upset of the day belonged to Sloane Stephens. The American knocked off Israel's Shahar Peer, the No. 23 seed, by the final tally of 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

American Men Results

There was only one American in action on Thursday, but luckily he did quite well.

That American, in case you're wondering, was eighth-seeded Mardy Fish. Matched up against Tunisia's Malek Jaziri, Fish went on to win 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to punch his ticket to the third round.

American Women Results

As mentioned above, Serena dominated and Stephens pulled out and upset, but they weren't the only American women doing work on Day 4.

Elsewhere, Vania King was able to knock off 29th-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 6-0. It was a nice victory, but King's jubilation will probably be short-lived.

For her efforts, King now gets to face Wozniacki.

Recap

Any day you get to see both Djokovic and Federer is a good day, and those of us in America can certainly take pride in the fact that our representatives went undefeated on Thursday.

This is particularly true of Serena. Venus Williams had to withdraw suddenly on Wednesday thanks to a bizarre health scare, which is all too fitting given the way things have gone for the Williams sisters recently. But after Serena's latest win, it's nice to know she's still ticking.