Does anyone miss the old Federer?

You remember him: The guy who used to take the Gilles Mullers of the world and toy with them like... Well, like someone who toys with something else. Cat and small mouse, perhaps. Anyway.

Federer just took the first set of his quarterfinal with Muller in a tiebreak, 7-5, on the seventh set point of the set. The old R-Fed might have let this set go to a tiebreak, just to get in a good workout, perhaps, but would put the hammer down eventually. We'll see if he can do that.

I liken the old Federer to Fezzik, Andre the Giant's character in "The Princess Bride." When Fezzik is fighting Cary Elwes' Westley character, he tells the much smaller man, "I want you to feel you are doing well."

Maybe we'll see the old Federer before the week is out.

Roddick, Blake named to Davis Cup team

Blake stunk it up here, losing in the third round, but captain Patrick McEnroe decided that the only two Americans in the top 10 should play in the semifinal against Spain in Madrid in two weeks.

Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey had nice results here, but McEnroe noted Blake has done well on clay this season and that Fish and Querrey weren't even among the top 40 until recently, at least in Fish's case.

"For this tie, it was a pretty easy decision," P-Mac noted.

Federer's on the court. And it's hot outside.

The thermometer reads 28 degrees celsius, which is like... a lot of degrees Fahrenheit. OK, I think it's 90. Or so.

Anyway, we're about to get started with the serious tennis today. Qualifier Gilles Muller of Luxembourg is set to face Roger Federer, the four-time defending champion.

In other news, Leander Paes and Cara Black won the mixed doubles crown, defeating Liezel Huber and Jamie Murray (big brother of men's semifinalist Andy Murray) 7-6, 6-4. Paes, 35, has now won the mixed Grand Slam for his career, and he and men's doubles partner Lukas Dlouhy are in tomorrow's final against Americans Mike and Bob Bryan.

Black, 29, is the top seed with Huber in the women's doubles, and they are into the semis. This is her first U.S. Open mixed title, to go with a French Open and Wimbledon title as well.

Oh, and if you think doubles is bush league, here are a couple numbers for you.

The first is 795,907. The second is 350,635. Those are Black's and Paes' prize earnings for 2007. They each get $75,000 for winning here.

So, that ain't bad.

Wow. Just wow.

Venus lets eight set points slip away in the second set and Serena wins, 7-6, 7-6, with a 9-7 win in the second set. The point at 4-2 Venus in the second tiebreak, when Serena chased down four seemingly ungettable balls but still lost the point.

Serena now leads the head-to-head series 9-8, but this one may stand out as the most entertaining. It took 2 hours, 25 minutes, and Serena is on to face Dinara Safina in the semis on Friday.

Nice rally by Serena to win the first set

Serena takes the tiebreak, 8-6, winning the last four points. She was absolutely smoking the ball. We'll see what goes down in the second set.

Serena and Venus look like they're trying to win

Isn't that a nice treat for the night crowd? Venus is serving at 5-6 in the first, with Serena having broken Venus at 5-4 to pull even. It's pretty easy to recall the days when they would play in a semi or a final of a Slam and it was fair to wonder if their pop, Richard, had told one or the other to tank it.

Think we're in for a good one.

Murray wins it, and they appear to be friends again

Murray pulls it out, 7-5 in the fourth, to advance to the semis against the Nadal-Fish winner. At the net after this four-hour slog, the two frenemies seemed to resolve their differences with a nice chat. I think.

So, in a mere hour or so, Venus vs. Serena will commence.