Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both had their moments of concern before winning in the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday, taking strides toward a seemingly destined semifinal clash.
The top-seeded Djokovic faced two early set points against him and needed a tiebreaker to win the first set before overwhelming Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2. leonardo Mayer, ranked 81st, ran Murray all over the court and temporarily threatened an upset when he took the third set but the defending champs won the last five games 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
It was another former champion, though, who pulled off the most impressive result of the day, as lleyton Hewitt turned back the clock to in a stirring 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro. It was the ninth time in the past 10 years that two previous title winners faced each other in New York; Hewitt was a participant in three of those in the past, going 0-3.
The 32-year-old Australian, a former No. 1 now ranked 66th after a series of injuries, repeatedly scrambled along the baseline to come up with passing winners against the sixth-seeded del Potro. Djokovic was playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the wind often swirls to players' frustration. Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 9-seeded Angelique Kerber and No. 9 Jelena Jankovic all advanced in straight sets. Wimbledon runner-up Sabine lisicki, seeded 16th, won't be making a run at Flushing Meadows after she was eliminated in straight sets by Ekaterina Makarova. The 24th-seeded Russian won 6-4, 7-5.
Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Denis Kudla of the U.S. 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3. American Tim Smyczek, ranked 109th, reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. He edged 73rd-ranked Alex Bogomolov Jr. in five sets, needing nearly four hours to win 3-6, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Somdev, Bhupathi out It was end of US Open campaign for Somdev Devvarman and Mahesh Bhupathi after they lost their respective hard-fought matches even as Rohan Bopanna had a mixed day.
Somdev battled hard for two hours 40 minutes before losing 6-7 (8), 4-6 5-7 to Italian 20th seed Andreas Seppi. Bhupathi, partnering comeback girl Martina Hingis in the mixed doubles event, lost 6-7 (5) 6-7 (5) to Yung-Jan Chan and Robert lindstedt in the first round. Bhupathi has already exited from the men's doubles, so it is end of road for him at the last Grand Slam of the season, which is the last for the veteran Indian.
Partnering Edourad Roger-Vasselin in the men's doubles, the sixth seed Bopanna and Julia George beat American pair of Bradley Klahn and Sam Querrey 6-2 6-4. Bopanna joined leander Paes and Divij Sharan in the men's doubles second round. They next clash with Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Elgin. Also exiting from the mixed doubles was Sania Mirza.