Men’s Draw Features Little-Knowns

So who are these mysterious survivors on the men’s side of the draw at the U.S. Open?

Greg Rusedski and Jonas Bjorkman introduced themselves Wednesday, one a big-serve specialist, the other part of a Swedish renaissance at the Open.

Rusedski continued his straight-sets march through the Open, ousting Richard Krajicek 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) in a battle of booming shots. Then Bjorkman joined Rusedski in the semifinals, defeating No. 15 Petr Korda 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 1-0. Korda, bothered by a bad head cold, retired in the third set.

That subtracted two of the mystery men. The other two men’s quarters are scheduled for today with Bjorkman’s countryman, Magnus Larsson, facing No. 13 Patrick Rafter, and old pal Michael Chang, seeded No. 2, against No. 10 Marcelo Rios.

Bjorkman and Larsson gave Sweden two players in the Open quarterfinals for the first time since 1987, and now Bjorkman is in the semis.

Rusedski, a transplanted Canadian now living in Britain who will turn 24 on Saturday, came into the Open with a career-best ranking of No. 20 that will improve considerably after his performance here.

The Open moved to the quarterfinals with eight players still swinging who are more likely to show up in a tennis Who’s He rather than a Who’s Who.

Among them, they owned just two Grand Slam championships. Krajicek won Wimbledon two years ago but arrived at the Open unseeded. Chang burst on the tennis scene when he won the French at the age of 17 in 1989. He hasn’t won any Slams since.

Rusedski had never won a match in this event until this year, going out in the first round of three previous tournaments. In a dramatic turnaround, he has not lost a set this year.

He was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon this year, beaten by Cedric Pioline, who reached the finals. Before that, he had assembled a terrible Grand Slam record, winning two matches in seven years.

He was the first British player to reach the quarterfinals of the Open since John Lloyd in 1984. No British player has won a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry at Wimbledon in 1936.

Golden aces

Chase Manhattan Bank, sponsor of the U.S. Open women’s singles final and the season-ending Chase Championships, has increased its donation from $10 to $200 for every ace served during the final two rounds at the National Tennis Center. The money will go to the inaugural Chase Tennis Camps for Girls, a project of the City Parks Foundation and City of New York-Park & Recreation.

Through Tuesday’s matches, members of the Corel WTA Tour have recorded 402 aces for a total contribution by Chase of $4,020.

Irina Spirlea, the 11th seed from Romania who will play Venus Williams in one semifinal, announced Wednesday that she will match the money from Chase on her own aces.

The tennis camps for girls aged 12-16 is the first free citywide program established in New York to identify and develop the tennis skills of talented female players.

To play or not to play

Alexandra Stevenson, 16, of San Diego is into the third round of the U.S. Open Junior Girls’ singles after she upset ninth-seeded Evie Dominikovic of Australia.

Stevenson’s serve has been clocked as high as 117 mph.

If a tennis career doesn’t pan out for Stevenson, she intends to pursue a career as an entertainer. Her dream is to enroll in the Yale School of Drama and perform on Broadway.