Federer stung into action

Wimbledon champion Roger Federer dropped a set to unknown Marcos Baghdatis before moving into the third round of the US Open with a 6-2 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-1 victory.

Federer took early advantage of the former world junior number one and had him running all over the court.

But the Cypriot suddenly came alive after going 2-0 down in the second set and got the crowd behind him.

He held serve and impressively broke the Swiss ace for the only time in the match and went on to win the set on a tie-break.

However, world number one Federer re-asserted himself and comfortably won the final two sets.

“He took his chances in the second set and really got into the match,” said Federer, who was the top-ranked junior himself in 1998. “It wasn’t going quite easily for me. "I definitely let him in the match and he took advantage of it.”

Federer will now meet the winner of the match between Dmitry Tursunov of Russia and 31st seed Fabrice Santoro of France.

In first-round action, Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt advanced with a 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory over veteran Wayne Ferreira of South Africa.

The fourth-seeded Hewitt won his 11th straight match dating back to his opening victory in Washington over two weeks ago.

The 2001 US Open champion has claimed consecutive hardcourt titles.

Ferreira extended his record streak of Grand Slam appearances to 56 but will retire after playing in the Davis Cup later this year for South Africa.

Earlier, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced to the second round when former US Open runner-up Mark Philippoussis of Australia retired when down 4-1 in the fifth set due to leg cramps.

Among the seeded men to advance were eighth-ranked David Nalbandian of Argntina, 12th Sebastien Grosjean of France and 23rd Vincent Spadea of the United States.

But a trio of South American seeds crashed out as 14th Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, 17th Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina and 20th Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil were all defeated.

The losses of Gonzalez and Kuerten guaranteed a spot in the fourth round for an unseeded player.

Grosjean won a battle of Frenchman, 7-5 6-7 (6/8) 6-2 6-1 over Olivier Patience, and Spadea moved on with a 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-4 6-4 triumph over Luis Horna of Peru.