Federer cruises into second round

Former No. 1-ranked player aiming for his fifth straight U.S. Open title

	Roger Federer returns a shot to Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina during their match at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Ed Betz / AP

Special feature

Record performances
Take a look at players who have put themselves in the US Open record books.

NBCSports.com

Video: Tennis from NBC Sports

Getty Images

Top tennis moments in 2008
Dec. 1: The men's and women's finals at Wimbledon rank among the year's best tennis highlights, Harry Cicma says.

Serena opens school

Federer's eye is on Nadal

Jankovic hoping to shine bright

Special feature

The Championships - Wimbledon 2007 Day Four

Awesome Ana
Check out tennis star Ana Ivanovic on and off the court.

NBCSports.com

Special feature

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts afte

Men's winners
Take a look at all of the US Open men's singles champions in the Open era.

NBCSports.com

Slide show

Tony Parker, Luc Mbah a Moute, Andrew Bogut

Week in Sports Pictures
Rough play on the ice, killing giants on the hardwood, a wild boat ride, and more.

more photos

updated 10:45 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2008

NEW YORK - Roger Federer, aiming for his fifth straight U.S. Open title, eliminated Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in the last stadium U.S. Open match of the night on Tuesday.

Gonzalez hung with the former world No. 1 player for a while before Federer won 10 straight games, a run spanning all three sets.

Federer eased into the second round as an unfamiliar second seed. After 237 straight weeks at the top of the rankings, Federer is now behind Rafael Nadal for the first time in 4½ years. Not since the 2004 Australian Open had Federer been seeded anything other than No. 1 at a major.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

“I’m motivated to do very well here and for the rest of the season,” Federer said.

No. 13 Fernando Verdasco of Spain, No. 14 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain won. Tommy Haas of Germany beat No. 12 Richard Gasquet of France 6-7 (3), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and Sam Querrey beat No. 22 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champ, was as volatile as ever, throwing a tantrum after being called for a foot fault during his 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Vince Spadea.

“I don’t want fight. I don’t want to shout,” the Russian said later. “I wish I could play normal matches and enjoy tennis sometimes.”

ALSO ON THIS STORY

Discuss: Sound off on tennis message boards