By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Andy Roddick knew the curtain had to come down on his stellar career at some point. Even his mother knew that.
"Everything has to come to an end sometime," Blanche Roddick said shortly after her son lost Wednesday 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4 to 2009 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro and walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium for the last time.
"I just admire him for the effort he put out in this tournament and fought every minute and every point."
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After saving a match point in the penultimate game, fans erupted in an ovation, many standing on their feet.
When Argentina's del Potro stepped up to serve at 5-4 in the final set, Chants of "Let's go, An-dee" rang through the stadium.
In the end, the seventh-seeded Argentine had too much firepower for the sore-shouldered Roddick, the face of American tennis for a decade.
Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who announced this would be his last tournament on his 30th birthday Aug. 30, was fittingly the last American man standing in New York.
When his final forehand sailed wide, he hugged del Potro at the net and sat in his changeover chair with a towel covering his face, clearly moved by the emotion of the moment.
"Wow," Roddick told the crowd, his voice cracking at times. "For the first time in my career, I'm not sure what to say."
He added: "Since I was a kid, I've been coming to this tournament. I felt lucky just to sit where all of you are sitting today, to watch this game, to see the champions that have come and gone. I loved every minute of it."
Roddick's career included 32 ATP titles, a stint at No. 1 in the world, a run of nine consecutive years in the top 10, Davis Cup heroics, including a victory in 2007, and the one major title.
"It's been a road of a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of great moments. I've appreciated your support," Roddick said. "I know I certainly haven't made it easy for you at times but I really do appreciate it and love you guys with all my heart. Hopefully I'll come back to this place someday and see all of you again."
While most eyes were on Roddick, a packed card of matches featuring eight Grand Slam champions were in action after Tuesday's persistent rain, in which just two of six singles matches were completed.
Play got underway about two hours late just after 1 p.m. ET due to early sprinkles, but soon Maria Sharapova and Marion Bartoli were barking and fist-pumping furiously in a quarterfinal clash on Ashe.
The 2006 champion from Russia improved to 12-0 in three set matches this year by beating No. 11 seed Bartoli of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Sharapova trailed 0-4 on Tuesday when play was halted.
The third-seeded Russian faces No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the semifinals.
"It's a great statistic," Sharapova said later. "It shows that I enjoy the battle no matter what the score is."
French Open finalist Sara Errani also kept her breakout season going, stopping fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-4. She plays three-time champ Serena Williams in the semifinals, who gave up just four games in beating Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-3.
"I just wish him the best," Serena said of Roddick. "What a great career."
Fresh off his Olympic gold medal in London, Andy Murray pulled out another of his Houdini acts.
The No. 3 Scot stormed back from a 1-5 second-set deficit to hold off Marin Cilic of Croatia 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-0 in a match played on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The 2008 U.S. Open runner-up will face the winner of Wednesday's evening quarterfinal between No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 6 Tomas Berdych.
In men's fourth-round action, defending champion Novak Djokovic advanced to face del Potro when his opponent, No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka, stopped because of illness while trailing 6-4, 6-1, 3-1.
Djokovic's Serbian Davis Cup teammate, No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, beat No. 19 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. He plays No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet of France 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4,
For Blanche Roddick, the weeklong retirement watch had taken a toll but was worth every minute.
"Right now I'm sad and I'm happy," she said.
She showed the famous Roddick wit is a family trait.
"He must have known I was running out of clothes," she laughed.