Nadal pays respect to 9/11

NEW YORK (AP) -For Rafael Nadal, playing at the U.S. Open also presents an opportunity to make an annual visit to ground zero.

The second-seeded Nadal had been in New York on vacation with his parents and visited the World Trade Center five months before Sept. 11, 2001. That memory draws the 20-year-old standout to the former World Trade Center site each year.

"I was (there) two days ago," Nadal said Wednesday, after he won his first-round match 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 over Mark Philippoussis, the 1998 Open runner-up. "The big hole is still there.

"I always remember when I was in the last floor of the tower. (I) remember the benches in front of the window. I was sitting for half an hour."

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