NEW YORK - Andy Roddick called it a healthy jealousy. It looks more like an American revolution. The country that couldn't do anything right in tennis has done very little wrong for the last few days. At last, the U.S. Open is no longer closed to U.S. male players.

The sport still belongs to those from across the Atlantic - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - until proved differently. But here we are into the second week of the Open, and four of the 16 men remaining are Americans.

As opposed to the second week of Wimbledon, when there were no Americans.

Home-court advantage? In a way. Those large and boisterous New York crowds, more than 22,000 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, more than 37,000 total at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, provide the electricity. Andy Roddick, out of the past, and Donald Young, into the future, provided the shots.

Roddick, Young and John Isner were third-round winners Sunday, Isner defeating another American, Alex Bogomolov Jr., 7-6 (9), 6-4, 6-4. The U.S. has four men into the fourth round for the first time since 2003. Which, with a Roddick victory, was the last time any American won a Grand Slam.

"It's a great thing to see,'' said Roddick, who turned 29 Tuesday and is the oldest of the remaining Americans.

Roddick, seeded No. 21 after a season of too many injuries, defeated Julien Benneteau of France 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Young, 22, now with substance to go with his style - the diamond ear studs, the cocked-sideways rapper-style hat - got past No. 24 seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.

"That's the way it should be here, especially at the U.S. Open,'' said Young. "The crowd support really pulls you through a lot of matches."

New York, New York. Skyscraper U.S.A. Flushing Meadows is across the river from Manhattan, on the 7 subway line. The Mets' ballpark, Citi Field, is on one side of the tracks, the tennis complex on the other. Jet planes to and from LaGuardia zoom overhead.

There are bands playing, fans shouting and concession sites as far as the legs can carry you. A mini-rendition of the Carnegie Deli sells those famous corned beef sandwiches if, at $13.75, not at a mini-price.

"I don't know that it was this specific match,'' said Roddick. "I think this year more than any, I've looked around a couple times in the stadium and just realized how special it is."

Special is a word that has been applied to Young. At 15, he was the youngest winner ever of a junior Grand Slam, the 2005 Australian Open. Later that year he was ranked the No. 1 junior in the world. But the prodigy, once praised by John McEnroe for his soft hands, became a problem.

He didn't take to coaching. The game had been taught him by his father, a tennis pro. He didn't take to discipline. Expectations became burdens.

"It was tough because I wanted to win,'' said Young. "I was used to winning. When you're used to winning and you start losing, it doesn't feel good. ... At times I wasn't winning matches at Challengers (the development tour), and I was losing to guys ranked 300 in the world. But you have your highs and lows in tennis. I've definitely had the lows. Hopefully I'll have a lot more highs."

He has never been higher than he is now, getting past the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time, performing - with some chest-beating histrionics - before fans enjoying the success every bit as much as Young.

"At times they want me to win so bad,'' said Young, who lives in Atlanta. "They say a lot of things at the time I know they mean pretty well, but you're kind of upset about it."

The thing that got more than a few people upset with Young was when he sent out a profanity-filled tweet in April ripping the U.S. Tennis Association when it failed to give him an available exemption into the French Open. Apologies soon followed.

"I think everybody's light comes on at their own time,'' Young said. "Hopefully mine is on now."

Roddick's has been on for years but perhaps not shining as brightly as some thought it should. He won the Open. He reached the final another time. He was in three Wimbledon finals, the most recent in 2009, when he was edged by Roger Federer in a dramatic 16-14 fifth set. So many almosts, so many pulled muscles and sore ligaments. But still he tries, a reminder of what Americans could do.

"There is a bit of a snowball effect at times,'' Roddick said of what he, Isner, Young and Mardy Fish have accomplished at this Open. "You (the media) are our voice. When people hear you talking about it positively, people believe, and it really does have an effect."