NEW YORK -- Just as memorable as one former champion's raving claim of injustice were almost any of the dozens of personal tales and triumphs played out during the U.S. Open's annual run:

• Twenty-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro's breakout victory in the men's final.

• Kim Clijsters' new-mom-winning-the-women's championship adventure.

• Seventeen-year-old Georgian Melanie Oudin's surprise rush to the quarterfinals.

• Journeyman Jesse Witten's advance to the third round, where he said he could appreciate the Grand Slam event's laundry service and limousine rides, in contrast to the challenger events he plays where there sometimes aren't even any ball kids.

The Open always is a great, global gathering with so many names to keep track of and so many evolving life stories. It has its bumpy moments and occasional personal clashes, which makes it all the more interesting.

But it is a whole lot more eloquent and civil -- at least in recent years -- than that bizarre threat hurled at a tiny lineswoman in the women's semifinal that will live on through YouTube and "SportsCenter" replays. As Tonya Harding once hijacked an Olympic Games, so did Serena Williams steal the goods from the Open.

There was the usual elite-level competition, for which ticket-holders paid handsomely and television viewers scrambled to find on two new outlets (one of which wasn't findable). And, beyond, some human stuff.

Oudin was stunned one day to be introduced to Roger Federer, who not only complimented her on her tournament play but also chatted with her about twins. She is a twin; Federer's wife just gave birth to twins.

Clijsters took time for a Central Park carriage ride with her husband and 18-month-old daughter. She said Jada "got to hold the reins, and we went to the Central Park zoo."

There was heartfelt appreciation, expressed by Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro, for the life tennis has given them as they left their final Grand Slam tournament and headed for retirement, whisking them around the world to enjoy money, fame and a measure of adoration. Which was the other end of the spectrum from the wide-eyed young players just starting out, such as 18-year-old Devin Britton, who drew Federer in his first major tournament match.

Federer's forehand was "so pretty," Britton said, that at times he hit to it just to watch, even though he knew it probably would -- and did -- destroy him.

Taylor Dent returned from back surgery and endless months in a body cast to win two matches. Long, tall John Isner got to experience the elation of three match victories, and didn't feel badly that one of them came against friend and mentor Andy Roddick. Losing happens in tennis as often as winning.

More than usual, this was a tournament of upsets, with premature departures by, on the women's side, No. 1 Dinara Safina, No. 2 Serena Williams, No. 3 Venus Williams, No. 4 Elena Dementieva, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic, No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova. And, on the men's side, No. 2 Andy Murray, No. 3 Rafael Nadal, No. 5 Roddick.

Throughout, Federer spoke as eagerly about his days as a ball kid as his records and successes. "I was [a ball boy] a couple of years in Basel [Switzerland], in my hometown," he said. "Even did some women's matches in my club where I grew up, where Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder played. I loved doing it, being close to the superstars and throwing them the ball. Just being sort of part of it was fantastic."