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Roger Federer rolled to his 29th straight US Open match victory and the women shuffled the chairs in the race to knock Ana Ivanovic off her No.1 perch on a marathon day five of the US Open.
Four-time reigning champion Federer extended his brilliant run by breezing past Brazilian Thiago Alves 6-3 7-5 6-4 in the second round at Arthur Ashe Stadium today.
Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva, both of whom have a shot at seizing the No.1 ranking, beat tough unseeded opponents to reach the fourth round.
American eighth seed Andy Roddick had to rally from a shaky first set to defeat Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis 3-6 7-5 6-2 7-5 in a match that ended in the early morning hours.
Federer, who is trying to salvage a season where he has yet to win a title on the hardcourts, has not lost a match at Flushing Meadows since 2003.
“This year was difficult because I couldn’t really take tournaments off,” Federer said. “I always had to chase the rhythm of playing on that particular surface that I was wanting to play on.”
The 27-year-old Swiss superstar hammered 19 aces and won 80 per cent of his first serve points in the two hour, 14 minute match.
Federer seeks to become the only player to win five or more successive titles at two separate grand slams. He has had similar success at Wimbledon winning five in a row beginning in 2003.
After a record 237 weeks as the world’s No.1, Federer lost his position to Rafael Nadal on August 18.
This is the first time since the 2004 Australian Open that the Swiss has not been the top seed at a grand slam.
In other men’s second round play, Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko defeated Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-2) and compatriot Dmitry Tursunov beat Victor Hanescu 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4 6-2.
Gilles Muller outlasted Germany’s Tommy Haas 2-6 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-3.
On the women’s side, world No.2 Jankovic defeated Zheng Jie of China 7-5 7-5 in a third round match today.
Serbia’s Jankovic is the lone top three seed remaining in the women’s draw after the stunning upset of top seed Ivanovic on Thursday and the ousting of Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova today.
Zheng made Jankovic work for the win, especially in the final game, which lasted 18 minutes and included 11 deuces.
“I had a really bad percentage of first serves,” she said. “I was struggling with that stroke but I managed to win at the end so that is the most important thing.”
The second-seeded Jankovic will play 14th seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the fourth round.
Russia’s Dementieva, who is trying to become the third player to win an Olympic gold medal and the US Open in the same year, defeated rising British star Anne Keothavong 6-3 6-4.
Dementieva booked a date in the fourth round against China’s Li Na, who beat Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 4-6 6-2 to reach the fourth round. Li missed last year’s US Open with a rib injury.
Two years ago, Li became the first Chinese woman to reach the fourth round at a US Open.
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