Americans' goal Saturday: Don't get upset

TODAY'S FEATURED MATCHES

All third round

World rankings in parentheses

Venus Williams (2) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (34), Spain

Suarez Navarro's 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Williams in a splendid match at the Australian Open constituted an upset. Any repetition of that outcome would constitute rudeness toward the queen.

Andy Roddick (6) vs. Jurgen Melzer (30), Austria

The Wikipedia page for Melzer reads, "He is often referred to as the best player on the tour to have not reached the fourth round of a major tournament." Yeah, it's really tiresome how people in polite conversation just keep bringing this up all the time.

Melanie Oudin (124) vs. Jelena Jankovic (6), Serbia

A 17-year-old delight from Atlanta, Oudin has found her way to her first bout with a top-10 player. Hint: Jankovic is the one who tends to smile the whole time she's strafing you.

Jesse Levine (133) vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (18), Switzerland

Even if Levine's plucky run to his first Grand Slam third round ends here, the Canadian-born American achieved a bit of tourism history when he said he won't be playing Davis Cup for Canada as he's "100% American." It marked a strident reversal to years of Americans coming to Europe and pretending they're Canadian.

Andy Murray (3), Britain, vs. Viktor Troicki (31), Serbia

An Andre Agassi fan as a child, Murray had a pair of pink-Lycra-and-denim shorts. If he wore wear pink-Lycra-and-denim shorts to Centre Court, the media noise would be audible to sheep in Scotland.

Ana Ivanovic (12), Serbia, vs. Samantha Stosur (19), Australia

As Ivanovic won the 2008 French Open, few could have foretold she'd be routed in the fourth round of the 2009 French while Stosur would make the semifinals. And those who could have foretold it would have been in desperate need of a life.

ENGLISH BREAKFAST

Here's Dudi Sela, 24, a relatively little guy headed to one exceedingly big week, the second one of Wimbledon. He's the first Israeli to advance that far since Amos Mansdorf in 1989, and the first in any Grand Slam event since Mansdorf at the 1992 Australian Open. "When my brother was playing he was 200th" in the world, Sela said. "So when he was playing I was admiring him. But now I say that he was not as good." Sela's feat has resonance especially because Israel has only hard courts, so he didn't expect Wimbledon to showcase his breakthrough after he also reached the third round of the Australian Open. To celebrate, "I'm going to go out to 6 in the morning," he said. Kidding.