It took nearly two weeks, but Andy Roddick finally put a charge into the U.S. Open Saturday with his five-set semifinal win. Still, the tournament hasn't been a total waste, as Top of the Second's water-logged review proves.

Best retirement ceremony

In an upset, our vote goes to a player who decided not to hang it up at this year's event, American Todd Martin. After losing a five-set match to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 33-year-old Martin said he wasn't in any rush to decide his future.

"You know," he reflected, "I think enough retirement ceremonies have occurred this fortnight, so you're not going to get anything like that out of me tonight."

Thanks, Todd. We couldn't survive any more retirements after A Very Special Evening with Michael Chang.

Worst retirement gift

Pete Sampras, who won five U.S. Open titles, was given a plaque with a photo of himself jumping for an overhead smash ... with a red superhero's cape superimposed! Were all the Timex watches taken? What is he supposed to do with that?

Best retirement outfit

Boris Becker's I-just-got-out-of-a-Berlin-disco suit and hair at Sampras' retirement ceremony. And what was with the dark outfits Becker, Sampras and Jim Courier were wearing? Dick Enberg was the only one with enough brains to put on a sensible summer tan suit.

Speaking of Enberg

How awesome is this guy? Back in the '90s, it was a huge NFL game when Enberg would say something like, "Bubby Brister and the Steelers are looking for that AFC crown ... but there's an old warrior named John Elway who's not ready to give it up ..."

So you know this U.S. Open had some juice when Enberg couldn't help himself from bellowing, "And Agassi is holding the baton that Roddick is working so hard to snatch from his grasp."

If Roddick wins the title, look out. Enberg will go nuts.

Best match

For the 13th straight year, Jimmy Connors' 1991 fourth-round epic against Aaron Krickstein, which CBS replays every year during the inevitable Labor Day rain delay, gets the nod.

Chances are, you remember exactly where you were when Connors pulled out the fifth-set tiebreaker 7-4 after four hours and 41 minutes.

Best nickname for a player

"The Rockin' Moroccan," which one headline writer assigned to Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui. What is it with him and five-set matches? Our bet is his favorite book is War and Peace, and his favorite movie is The Godfather ... Parts I, II and III.

Best nickname, honorable mention

"The A-Train," which fits semifinalist Andre Agassi nicely. Although The New York Times' George Vecsey referred to him Saturday as an ancient Zen master.

Most annoying habit

Justine Henin-Hardenne's preference for ending combative sentences with the phrase, "And you're just going to have to accept that."

Best column on the tournament

In Friday's Wall Street Journal, Sam Walker wrote about the Hawk-Eye, a British system that can pinpoint where a ball lands to within 5 millimeters.

Walker argues that eliminating the doubt from line calls also would eliminate watching players blow their lids when they think they've been had. He's right. What fun is that?

Walker also notes Illie Nastase once told an umpire to address him as Mr. Nastase.