For the second consecutive match, Roger Federer has been forced to dig deep to keep alive his chances of a sixth US Open title and unprecedented 20th major title overall.
After being unexpectedly stretched to his absolute limits against American youngster Frances Tiafoe in his first match, the Swiss Maestro was expected to make light work of Mikhail Youzhny, to whom he had never lost in 16 previous meetings dating all the way back to 2000.
Federer took the opening set in 26 minutes, but Youzhny, a two-time US Open semi-finalist, flipped the script to take a two-sets-to-one lead and leave Federer at risk of his earliest ever exit from Flushing Meadows.
However, the 36-year-old broke early in the fourth set for a 3-1 lead, before going on to take that set 6-4 and run away with it 6-2 in the decider.
The victory means the Swiss has beaten Youzhny at every major, after doing so at the Australian and French Opens in 2007, and at Wimbledon in 2012.
It also marks the first time Federer has played multiple five-set matches at the US Open in the same year, and just the second time he has won a match from two-sets-to-one down at Flushing Meadows (the other time against Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals in 2014).
The Swiss Maestro will next face another opponent against whom he is undefeated, Feliciano Lopez, after the 31st seed defeated compatriot Fernando Verdasco in four sets.
Federer remains on track to face either Dominic Thiem or Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals.
Del Potro, the 2009 champion, took care of Spanish qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in straight sets and next faces another Spaniard, Roberto Bautista-Agut, in the third round. Thiem is up against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
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The only semi-finalist from last year to return, Gael Monfils, also survived another five-set thriller, winning the final set of his match against Donald Young 7-5. His next opponent is ninth seed David Goffin, who also required five sets to defeat Argentine Guido Pella.
Seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov became the latest seeded casualty as he went down to Russian Andrey Rublev in straight sets. This has increased the possibility of a first-ever ‘Fedal’ meeting at Flushing Meadows, as Dimitrov was projected to face Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.
Nadal, for his part, was still to play Japan’s Taro Daniel at the time of writing.
In the women’s draw, top seed Karolina Pliskova also had to dig deep to keep her title chances alive, coming from a set down to defeat American qualifier Nicole Gibbs in three sets.
It marks the third time in the past four years the Czech has reached the third round at Flushing Meadows. To have any chance of retaining the world number one ranking after the US Open, the 25-year-old must at the very least reach the final and hope her other rivals don’t outperform her.
Her next opponent is China’s 27th seed Zhang Shuai.
Tenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, fourth seed Elina Svitolina and reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also progressed to the third round with straight sets victories over Yulia Putintseva, Evgeniya Rodina and Sorana Cirstea respectively.
The first round victor over Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, backed up that win with a three-set victory over Denisa Allertova. She next faces qualifier Kaia Kanepi, a quarter-finalist in 2010.
Day 5 of the 2017 US Open will see the completion of all third round matches in the bottom halves of both the men’s and women’s draws.
Matches to watch on Day 5
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Day session – play starts at 11:00am (Saturday 1:00am AEST)
[13] Petra Kvitova (CZE) versus [18] Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Denis Shapovalov (CAN) versus Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) versus [9] Venus Williams (USA)
Night session – play starts at 7:00pm (9:00am AEST)
[23] Mischa Zverev (GER) versus [10] John Isner (USA)
Sofia Kenin (USA) versus Maria Sharapova (RUS)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Play starts at 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) versus [12] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) versus Sloane Stephens (USA)
[31] Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) versus [3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
Not before 5:00pm (7:00am AEST)
[17] Sam Querrey (USA) versus Radu Albot (MDA)
Grandstand
Play starts at 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
[29] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) versus [5] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[28] Kevin Anderson (RSA) versus Borna Coric (CRO)
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)/Arina Rodionova (AUS) versus [2] Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Martina Hingis (SUI)
[16] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) versus Donna Vekic (CRO)
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