Clearly, this was a much happier birthday for Andy Roddick. A year after bowing out in the U.S. Open’s first round on the day he turned 23, Roddick celebrated turning 24 on Wednesday by reaching the tournament’s third round. The 2003 U.S. Open champion, seeded ninth this time, beat Kristian Pless of Denmark 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Andre Agassi’s first-round victory at the U.S. Open was more painful than anyone realized. Bothered by a bad back most of this season, Agassi said he could barely stand an hour after his match ended past midnight early Tuesday, and went to the hospital for a cortisone injection after waking up. “The inflammation was pretty bad, and I just don’t want to go off the court limping,” Agassi told USA…

Delayed a day by rain, Venus Williams and the U.S. Open paused Wednesday night to remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina. “We all have to give back in whichever way we can,” she told the crowd. Williams led fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium in a moment of silence after Maria Sharapova’s victory and before Andy Roddick’s match.

For Rafael Nadal, playing at the U.S. Open also presents an opportunity to make an annual visit to ground zero. The second-seeded Nadal had been in New York on vacation with his parents and visited the World Trade Center five months before Sept. 11, 2001. That memory draws the 20-year-old standout to the former World Trade Center site each year.

Sony Ericsson is taking over as the title sponsor of the combined men’s and women’s hard-court tennis tournament in Miami in a deal announced Tuesday that’s worth more than $20 million over the next four years. It’s the first deal with a tournament for the mobile phone company, which became the title sponsor of the WTA Tour in 2005.

Andre Agassi’s eyes were red and filled with tears as he stood at the baseline, one point from winning his first match at his last U.S. Open. A record crowd was standing, trying to will him to victory. An hour or so earlier, Agassi’s eyes were looking at the end of his career. Now, though, he’ll get to go out on court once again.

Jimmy Connors was back at the U.S. Open, back in the limelight, back in his element. Connors won this Grand Slam title five times as a player, and now he’s trying to win it as a coach, working with Andy Roddick. And, by the looks of things, everyone’s thrilled to have Connors back in the game, after years away from it.

Andy Roddick walked toward the chair umpire, shaking his head and waving his arms. “Challenge it, Andy!” shouted a man high up in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Instant replay made its debut at Grand Slam tennis Monday and two points from an overwhelming win at the U.S. Open, Roddick wanted to test the system.

Billie Jean King made quite a name for herself on and off the court, all around the globe. On opening night at the U.S. Open, the tennis world took care of that for her. King, a winner of 39 career Grand Slam titles, was honored Monday night when the home of the U.S. Open was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Before the U.S. Open started, Ivan Ljubicic leaned forward in a chair in the players’ lounge and spoke earnestly about feeling self-assured and ready for a strong run at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Fast-forward to Monday: The third-seeded Ljubicic became the first surprise loser of the Open, defeated 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 by Feliciano Lopez on Day 1.

All of 19, Maria Sharapova is committing to a “lifetime” of sponsoring the only tennis racket brand she’s used as a pro. Sharapova and Prince have agreed to an endorsement deal that will last until the end of her playing career and beyond, The Associated Press has learned. The contract is set up to be worth about $25 million over the next 10 years, according to a person in the tennis industry who…

The Tennis Channel is buying the U.S. cable TV rights to the French Open previously held by ESPN2, giving the fledgling network a Grand Slam tournament for the first time and an event it hopes will help increase its reach. The agreement, announced Thursday, begins in 2007 and can run for up to nine years.

Andre Agassi knows it’s possible to do well as an unseeded player at the U.S. Open. He won the 1994 title that way, after all — the tournament’s only unseeded champion in the Open era. Still, being thrown into the draw without any sort of protection from facing top players too early can make things tough, as Agassi found out Wednesday.

Justine Henin-Hardenne looked anything but rusty Wednesday night in her first match since Wimbledon. The second-seeded Belgian cruised into the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues. Recovering from a right knee injury Henin-Hardenne accepted a wild card at New Haven last week hoping to regain the form that’s earned her 27 singles titles, including five…

WTA Tour players will be provided with free vitamins and health supplements by a company that is offering up to $1 million to any player who fails an anti-doping test because of their products. Under the three-year deal announced Wednesday, USANA Health Sciences is paying a six-figure sponsorship fee to become the women’s tennis tour’s official health supplement supplier, WTA spokesman Andrew…