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.