The early exits of the ninth seed, Andy Roddick, and Tomas Berdych (7) yesterday, followed by Nikolay Davydenko (6) and Marin Cilic (11) today, have breathed unexpected life into this US Open. Yet the focus remains trained on the man favoured to win it, Roger Federer.
Even when he is playing nobody, Federer is somebody. The second seed strolled past Brian Dabul in the first round and was equally relaxed in beating Andreas Beck 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Progress does not come more serene.
The heat has provided the X-factor in several matches, testing fitness and commitment to the limit. No result is taken for granted. Today Cilic seized up with cramp and went out in five tough sets to Japan's Kei Nishikori; Richard Gasquet, untroubled, accounted for Davydenko 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
While local audiences clearly bemoan Roddick's loud departure more, Berdych's loss was a greater shock, those of Davydenko and Cilic about on a par. Gasquet, a player nowhere near as reliable as this New York weather, would be lethal if he could find some consistency.
After the abrasive Roddick had foot-faulted and mouth-faulted his way out of his own national tournament last night against the more thoughtful Janko Tipsarevic (the Serb reads Nietzsche and has a tattoo that whispers: "Beauty will save the world"), the Americans looked to reformed lard-arse Mardy Fish.
He did not let them down. Fish clearly has put his many wasted years behind him and looked convincing in beating the Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in exactly two hours to reach the third round.
Fish, who outlasted Murray in Cincinnati before reaching the final there against Federer, did his bit for Uncle Sam. He dropped serve early but broke back twice to take the first set, then eroded Cuevas's confidence to win 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.
Fish, who is asked at every press conference about his impressive loss of two stones since last September, looks more dangerous than in his precocious youth. His backhand is lethal. He is serving big aces (although his first percentage is down to 52) and he actually likes talking about his fitness. Few here have handled the heat better, apart from maybe Murray who, oddly, wobbled in their Ohio quarter-final.
"There's a lot of people that have talked about my summer and how well I've played," Fish said. "To be honest, I felt like I've been the underdog most matches in my career. This is the spot that I want to be in. You want to be the favourite and winning a lot. I have played well here the past couple times. I've got a really good opportunity."
He is, sadly, burdened by the pre-tournament endorsement of the Guardian as the best outside bet in the field. Punters tempted to lay off ought to do so before Fish collides with Federer, which could not happen before the semi-finals.
Federer, lurking like a basking shark on the other side of the draw, knows he will not have either Rafa Nadal or Andy Murray to deal with until the crunch on Sunday week (perhaps neither of them) but, in the meantime, next up he has Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat his fellow Frenchman Guillaume Rufin 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 on court four, as the shadows grew across Flushing Meadows. The Swiss could not have asked for a quieter start.
