New York, Aug. 29 (IANS): Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Swiss legend Roger Federer won their respective second round matches to progress to the next round in the men's singles event of the ongoing US Open.
In the second-round encounter played at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday evening, three-time champion Djokovic fought off a valiant effort from Juan Ignacio Londero to notch a 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 victory that was anything but easy.
Djokovic awaits the winner between fellow serb Dusan Lajovic and American Denis Kudla.
In the other match, Federer shook off a slow start and clawed back from one set down to notch up a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory against Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Swiss, competing in his 100th US Open match, was once again made to work hard, having also dropped the opening set in his first-round clash on Monday against Indian qualifier Sumit Nagal.
Next up for the third seed is No. 25 seed Lucas Pouille of France or Daniel Evans of Britain. Federer is 2-0 against both men in their respective head-to-head records and hasn't dropped a set to either player.
Serena survives scare against 17-year-old in US Open
Five-time champion Serena Williams was made to toil hard as she survived a scare against teenager American Catherine McNally in the second round of the US Open.
Pushed to the limit for the first set and a half, Serena withstood a brilliant effort from Catherine as she defeated the 17-year-old 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in a contest that lasted one-hour and 54 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.
"I think it's great because I want to be able to win matches where I'm not playing my best, play players who are playing great..be able to come through," Serena was quoted as saying in her post-match press conference by the WTA website. "I need to be tested, I guess."
With the victory, the No.8 seed kept her perfect record in second-round matches at the US Open intact -- improving to 19-0 in this round at this event -- two nights after reaching 19-0 in US Open first-round matches with her opening-night win over Russia's Maria Sharapova.
"You don't play players like her that have such full games," Serena said of Catherine. "I think she just overall played really well."
Serena will next face the winner of the other women's singles match between Dayana Yastremska and Karolina Muchova.
Venus orders mid-match coffee during US Open loss to Elina
Most of us crave for coffee whenever we feel anxious or nervous. That's what happened during the women's singles clash between Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina on Wednesday evening which the American lost.
During the first set of the second-round match which Venus lost 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes to Elina to bow out of the competition, the former grand slam champion ordered a cup from her entourage in the stands.
To Venus' dismay, the coffee delivery from the stands remained unsuccessful at first, as the ball boy tasked with handing over the cup briefly stole the show.
As Venus' entourage handed the ball-boy the cup, the 39-year-old was already making her way off the court. By the time he caught up, the former US Open winner had already made her way towards the locker room.
The boy, who could not catch Venus, then paused in front of the restricted area, embarrassed and red-faced.
However, the crowd came to the aid of the bespectacled helper as the spectators signalled for him to leave the cup on the player's bench on the court.
US Open posted the moment and captioned it: "Coffee delivery for Ms. Williams…Ms. Williams?"
The mid-match espresso did seem to work wonders for the American as she raced away to a 3-0 lead before her No. 5 seed opponent came back strongly and won the set 6-4.
The Ukrainian went on to win the second set with a same scoreline and ousted Venus from the US Open.
It was not the first time Venus had ordered a coffee mid-match. During a changeover in a match against Donna Vekic at the Cincinnati Masters, she had told her coach that all she wanted was a cup of coffee.
