It’s not how you start, but how you finish. Rafael Nadal escaped a stern test from World No. 121 Taro Daniel to reach the third round at the US Open on Thursday.

Nadal rallied from a set and a break down to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at 12:30am in New York, discovering his top gear at the critical moment under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Spaniard struck 20 winners to 24 unforced errors in the first two sets, but turned the match around in a flash, finishing with 20 winners to just 11 unforced errors in the third and fourth.

Top seed Nadal booked his spot in the third round for a third straight year, claiming a tour-leading 51st match win of the season. The two-time US Open champion (2010 & ’13) will next face lucky loser Leonardo Mayer on Saturday.

Japan’s Daniel was not intimidated by the bright lights and electric atmosphere on Ashe, swinging freely from the back of the court and pressing Nadal into uncomfortable positions. The 24 year old was aggressive in the early stages, stepping into the court and firing his forehand from side to side. Nadal had no answer as he broke for 5-4 in the first set, closed out the opener and surged to an early break lead in the second.

But just as fast as Daniel took control, Nadal fired back. The World No. 1 found his range as the Japanese looked to consolidate the break in the second set, breaking right back and halting Daniel’s momentum. Nadal would sprint to the finish line from there, dropping just five of the next 23 games for the two-hour and 53-minute win.

A spot in the Round of 16 will be on the line when Nadal and Mayer meet for the fourth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The Spaniard has won all seven sets played, most recently taking a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 decision at Roland Garros in 2014.

Mayer advanced to the third round on Thursday after defeating Yuichi Sugita 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The Argentine is in the midst of a seven-match win streak as a lucky loser, having lifted the trophy at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Hamburg in July. He lost in the final round of qualifying there, as well as in New York, where he has since rallied from as set down to defeat both Richard Gasquet and Sugita.

Mayer is the first lucky loser to reach the third round at the US Open since Flavio Cipolla in 2008.

Dominic Thiem was one point from being taken the distance on Louis Armstrong Stadium, but the sixth seed dug in his heels for a gritty four-set win over home hope Taylor Fritz.

Thiem needed two hours and 50 minutes to deny the #NextGenATP American 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in their US Open encounter on Thursday. Fritz held three set points to force a decider at 4-5 0/40, but his Austrian opponent blasted his backhand with precision in the critical moment, staving off the trio of chances. He saved 16 of 18 break points in total.

“It was 6-4, 6-4 and it looked pretty easy, but it was not at all,” said Thiem. “He didn’t convert one break point in the first two sets, but I had almost every serve game at 0/30 or break points to defend. In the third set, he converted a lot of these break points. That’s why it got really close. All in all, it’s not easy to play him. It was 4-5 in the fourth. He made 83 points, I made 84. A really tight match. So I’m happy that I didn’t have to go to the fifth.

“I think there are many players out there, like Taylor, who make it really, really tough for players like me because they take away all my time. They play flat. It’s really tough for me to turn the defence into offence. These matches like today, you just have to win. That’s what I did. That’s why I’m pleased.”

Thiem has now reached the third round in all four main draw appearances in New York. He will look to replicate his best result when he faces Adrian Mannarino for a spot in the Round of 16. Thiem leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head 5-0, having claimed seven consecutive sets, including a pair of encounters in 2017 (Acapulco & Cincinnati).

Mannarino capped a strong month of August with a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2 victory over American wild card Bjorn Fratangelo. The Frenchman, who entered the US Open on the heels of a quarter-final finish at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Montreal and Round of 16 result in Cincinnati, is closing in on his career-high standing of No. 27 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

In other action, John Millman continued his impressive run at the US Open, matching his best Grand Slam result. The Tecnifibre player, who is steadily plotting his return to the Top 100 after undergoing groin surgery in February, defeated Malek Jaziri 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-1. He will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber after the 33rd-seeded German advanced when Santiago Giraldo retired at 6-2, 6-1, 3-0. Kohlschreiber is into the US Open third round for the fifth time in six years.

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.