Mikhail Youhzny, currently No. 101 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, leads third seed Roger Federer, the 2004-2008 US Open champion, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon.

Federer, who has never lost to Youzhny in their 16-match FedEx ATP Head2Head series, is looking to capture his third Grand Slam championship of the year and 20th major overall. The Swiss superstar has compiled a 36-3 match record in 2017, including five trophies. Former World No. 8 Youzhny reached the US Open semi-finals in 2006 and 2010.

The winner will next meet Spanish No. 31 seed Feliciano Lopez, who beat his compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes.

Federer did not put a foot wrong in the 26-minute first set, which saw him win the first five games. Although he could not convert two set point chances on Youzhny’s serve with a 5-0 lead, his domination was tempered when Youhzny regrouped by winning the first two games of the second set.

Federer clinched four straight games, but when he served for the set at 5-4, three backhand errors cost him. Youzhny went onto capitalise by winning just his fifth set – also 2000 Stockholm, 2003 Halle, 2011 Wimbledon, 2013 Halle – against Federer in their 17th meeting. It broke a streak of 16 sets for Federer in hard-court matches against Youzhny, dating back to their first clash in Sweden, which the Swiss star won 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

In the third set, Federer saw his service speed drop on average by nine miles per hour from the previous two sets. Youzhny broke for a 3-2 and, seizing his chance, closed out the set on his third opportunity. Federer had grit hit teeth to save two set points in a 14-point ninth game.

Federer beat #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the first round on Tuesday.

The #NextGenATP stars of the ATP World Tour are on a tear this week at the US Open, making Flushing Meadows their playground with a trio storming into the third round.

Andrey Rublev joined Borna Coric and Denis Shapovalov with a stunning 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3 upset of Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday afternoon. Rublev demonstrated the poise of a veteran on Louis Armstrong Stadium, crushing his forehand with fearless aplomb. He fired 36 winners, including 23 on that wing, while saving eight of 10 break points faced.

Seventh seed Dimitrov was not as sharp as he was in streaking to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati two weeks ago, and Rublev took full advantage. It was the Russian’s first Top 10 win, marking the third time a #NextGenATP player has beaten a Top 8 seed this week in New York. On Wednesday, Coric upset fourth seed Alexander Zverev and Shapovalov shocked eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“I think my style of game is to just play aggressive, to try to play with my rhythm because I have quite good rhythm,” said Rublev. “I can compete with many good guys. I think this is one of the main things of my game. Of course, to try to work hard, to try to improve all the things that I need to improve every day. I hope that I’m doing better and better. In this way I have better results and ranking.”

Rublev’s victory also marks the first time multiple teenagers are into the US Open third round in nearly a decade, since Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori advanced as far in 2008. He is making strides in solidifying his place among the eight players who will feature at the Next Gen ATP Finals from 7-11 November in Milan. He is currently fifth in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan.

For Rublev, the straight-sets scoreline does not tell the entire story. It was a battle from first ball, with Dimitrov streaking to a 4-1 lead in both the first and second sets, before Rublev stormed back. After breaking the Bulgarian serving for the opener at 5-3, he broke again and closed it out on his fourth set point. His defensive prowess was on full display as he replicated the result in the second set, and claimed an early break in the third before holding to the finish line.

“I was just thinking to try to focus, just to try to fight, no matter even if I am losing with a break. And in the end, I was little bit lucky. I made a few good returns. I hit maybe a few points close to the line. In the end I broke. I think I was just pushing myself to fight for every point, even if I’m with break down. That’s how it works.”

A lunging forehand winner closed out the win after two hours and 27 minutes. Rublev will next face Damir Dzumhur in an unseeded battle on Saturday. A coveted spot in a first Grand Slam fourth round will be on the line. It will be their second FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter, with Rublev having prevailed on the clay of Istanbul in 2015.

Dzumhur rallied past Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, concluding his impressive month of August with a 14-3 record. Runner-up at both the ATP Challenger Tour event in Santo Domingo and ATP World Tour 250 in Winston-Salem, the Bosnian is closing in on a career-high in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Ninth seed David Goffin and 18th seed Gael Monfils both had to do it the hard way, fighting through five-setters on Thursday to set their third-round showdown. Goffin improved to 5-4 since suffering a serious ankle injury at Roland Garros with his 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Guido Pella, the No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

The Belgian held a set point at 5-4 in the fourth set but was forced to scrap it out on his third chance in the tie-break to take a two-sets-to-one lead. From there, his Argentine opponent began to fade, dropping serve twice in the final set of a four-hour, 26-minute battle.

Monfils, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows last season (l. to No. 1 Djokovic), called a medical time-out during the second set of his match, but rallied to hold off American lefty Donald Young 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 on Grandstand. The Frenchman held four set points to take a two-set lead on Young’s serve at 4-5, only to drop the set in a tie-break.

The final set featured five breaks and after a lengthy battle on serve at 5-5, a rash of unforced errors cost the American the break. Monfils returned to close it out with his 19th ace. Goffin and Monfils have split their two prior FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters.

Entering the US Open, Italy’s Stefano Travaglia had won 274 matches in his pro career.

None at the tour-level and none over Top 50 opposition, with just 12 coming on hard courts.

There is a first for everything. Travaglia’s fortunes changed in flash at one of the biggest stages in the game, streaking into the main draw last week with a trio of straight-set qualifying wins. Then, the breakthrough arrived. A gritty 6-4, 7-6(8), 3-6, 6-0 victory over 22nd-seed Fabio Fognini on Wednesday afternoon.

The Italian stunned his countryman in two hours and 27 minutes behind eight breaks from 18 chances, seizing the opportunity on a packed Court 11.

“Today was the best win of my career and the first win in a Grand Slam main draw,” Travaglia told ATPWorldTour.com. “It’s very good for me and I will try to enjoy this day. When I lost the third set, he played a little better and then I changed my play. I was a break up but I lost five games in a row. In the fourth set, I played better and was full power from there.”

Less than two months after making his tour-level debut at Wimbledon, the mere fact that Travaglia is competing at this stage is astonishing. A tennis player’s ability to maintain a firm grip on the racquet is one of the most integral factors to success. For Travaglia, that seemingly basic faculty was nearly stripped from him entirely.

For six years, Travaglia has been building towards this moment after suffering a career-threatening accident in 2011, when he fell down a flight of stairs. In an attempt to halt his fall, the right-hander reached out with his right arm, but crashed through a pane of glass.

The fall had disastrous results, as the glass sliced between his wrist and elbow. As a result, Travaglia suffered nerve and tendon damage, losing feeling in four fingers. For nine months, tennis was far from his mind as Travaglia sought to restore his life back to normal. That is, nine months of suffering through surgery and rehab.

But, as the 25 year old says, the struggle and sacrifice was all worth it. Now, with the help of the facilities at Fabio Gorietti’s academy in Foligno, Italy, he has soared from No. 483 in the Emirates ATP Rankings a year ago to a projected Top 130 position following the US Open.

“It is unbelievable because my career has been stopped a lot of times. To be here today and win this round means a lot of things. I tried to play my best tennis and we’ll see where I’ll arrive in the next round and in the next month. The past is the past I have to think about the future and the present.”

Travaglia, who owns a stunning haul of 18 Futures titles, believes his game is maturing rapidly in 2017 as he graduates to full-time status on the ATP Challenger Tour. His experience in lifting his maiden Challenger crown in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in May and subsequent run at Wimbledon as a qualifier, has not only provided a surge of confidence, but allowed him to gauge his place against world-class competition.

“It has helped me to stay in the court without pressure,” Travaglia added. “I am trying to make the best of my tennis without thinking about the other player. I just play my game and focus on my tennis. Maybe at Wimbledon I was thinking about the other player and the [Emirates ATP Rankings] points. Now, I am focused on me only and playing tennis.

“Ostrava gave me confidence too. It was on another surface, on clay, but tennis is tennis. Whether it’s clay or hard courts. It’s only good for my confidence. I believe more in myself and I will keep going.”

Travaglia will face Viktor Troicki in the second round on Thursday.

Denis Shapovalov’s star continues on its fast-rising trajectory with eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga his latest victim at the US Open. The #NextGenATP Canadian qualifier dismissed the Frenchman 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the third round on Wednesday.

After taking down big names Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro en route to the semi-finals on home turf at the Coupe Rogers early this month, Shapovalov transferred his red-hot hard-court form to Flushing Meadows. His victory over Tsonga came on the heels of his first-round defeat of fellow #NextGen ATP player Daniil Medvedev.

It completed a strong day for the #NextGenATP charge, with Borna Coric downing fellow 20 year old, No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, to join Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev as Day 3 winners. Fritz took down Marcos Baghdatis and Rublev saw off Aljaz Bedene, both in straight sets.

“I think every win that I’ve been going through, it’s been securing anyone’s doubts or even my own doubts, whether or not I belong,” Shapovalov said. “I belong with these guys, playing these high-level tournaments. 

“So this win, it’s definitely another confidence boost. It shows that Montreal wasn’t a fluke week. To do it back-to-back, it’s not easy. I’ve had to go through qualifying, which is also stacked with super tough players.”

In the last match on Arthur Ashe Stadium on a packed Day 3 schedule, Tsonga struggled to find his range throughout against the free-swinging Canadian. Trailing two sets, he sent a wild smash well long before he sailed a forehand wide to surrender the break for 4-3.

Shapovalov’s first sign of nerves crept in when serving for the match at 5-4 as he quickly fell behind 0-40. Tsonga landed his first break of the match to level at 5-5 but his momentum swing was brief.
The Canadian brought up three match points with a backhand pass drawing the volley error from Tsonga and claimed it when the Frenchman sliced long. He will take on Brit Kyle Edmund for a place in the fourth round.

“I played unbelievable today, very high level,” Shapovalov said. “I don’t know why, but I just managed to stay loose and go for my shots the whole match, except a little bit at 5-3 or 5-4, serving for the third set. I got a little bit tight, stopped moving my feet on a couple shots, sailed some forehands.

“He did a good job to break me. He stayed mentally tough there. I mean, I just stayed calm and just waited for my next chance and took it.”