Talent not nationality rule at US Open

Two Russians in the women's final, a Swede, a Swiss, a Brit and an Aussie in the men's semis showed that the game's future lies with players of talent.

The global village of tennis was on display in all its glory at the American-deficient US Open. Two Russians in the women's final, a Swede, a Swiss, a Brit and an Aussie in the men's semis showed that the future of the game lies with players of passion and talent, no matter where they are born.

If CBS television executives pounded the walls over a "Super Saturday" lineup expected to draw anemic TV ratings in the United States with no Americans on court, tennis aficionados at Arthur Ashe Stadium and around the world reveled in the dazzling diversity they saw.

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The absence of Americans seemed even more conspicuous on this September 11, with patriotic fervour in the air, the flag flying at half-staff, a standing ovation for police and firefighters between sets in the first match, and a tribute to victims of terrorism in the evening.

Here were baseline players, serve-and-volleyers and all-court masters who had taken different paths to the top of the sport. They weren't products of any nation's sports machine, but players who set their own courses and put in thousands of hours honing their games.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 19-year-old with a ferocious forehand, became the first Russian woman to win the US Open, beating Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-5 in the second all-Russian Grand Slam final this year. Dementieva, 22, also was runner-up in the French Open, where she lost to compatriot Anastasia Myskina.