Next generation of WTA shines; Henman bows out

Tim Henman's Grand Slam career ended with a loss to to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. AP

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We're at the halfway point of the U.S. Open. The ledger so far: multiple pleasant surprises, one monster upset, one night session classic and no rain. Herewith, our midterm grades. All marks dispensed on the Zac Efron East High bell curve.

A

Men's seeds: A few close calls, but upset were nearly as sparse as raindrops last week, setting the stage for a memorable second week.

WTA Generation Next: Aggie Radwanska, Aggie Savay, Tamira Paszek, Viktoira Azarenka, come on down.

Pier Francesco Parra: Italian doctor was a big week one story, applying his magic lasers to the injuries of Rafael Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic among others.

The Latin Quarter: Actually, the Latin half. Tommy Robredo, Carlos Moya, Agustin Calleri, Juan Monaco, Juan Ignacio Chela, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, and Nadal all left in the bottom half.

Tim Henman: Bows out of his last Slam with characteristic class. Same for Justin Gimelstob, Corina Morariu, Paola Suarez and Nicole Pratt.

B-plus

Novak Djokovic: Serb has played an inauspicious amount of tennis already but he's found a way to survive. And the crowds love him.

Young and Tall: Donald Young and John Isner are both out of the tournament, but not before extinguishing the "American tennis is dead" talk.

Ahsha Rolle: Terrific tournament for promising wild card, upsetting Tatiana Golovin and reaching third round before falling to Dinara Safina.

Fabrice Santoro: Lost to James Blake in a five-set classic. But what a show he put on. And how do you not respect a man who for those sartorial stylings?

B-Minus

Mardy Fish: Good for him for getting to 4-1 in the fifth set against Tommy Robredo, a top eight seed. But you simply have to devise a way to win that match. Opportunities like that are all too infrequent.

C

Maria Sharapova: Wins the final Major of 2006. In 2007 Slams, she suffers three blowouts and then gets beaten by an 18-year-old. About those power shots...

Lleyton Hewitt: He arrived in form. He was blessed with an encouraging draw. He was playing on a favored surface. Then he lost decisively to ... Agustin Calleri? Inexplicable.

Australian Open finalists: Both Fernando Gonzalez and Marcos Baghdatis lose in the first round. The fans wanted to embrace "Baggie," after he played the role of Andre Agassi's straight man last year. But he gave them no chance.

Richard Gasquet: French No. 1 forced to withdraw with an ill-timed illness.

F

Match-fixing allegations: Given the numbers of players sharing their experiences on and off the record, you get the feeling this problem is not going away as quickly as the ATP would have us believe. The silver lining such as it is: The dubious betting seems only to pertain to lesser players at lesser events.