NEW YORK — World No. 2 Roger Federer rolled into the third round of the US Open Thursday, the 17-time Grand Slam winner still finding ways to improve his game at age 34. Federer, seeking his first US Open title since 2008 and first Grand Slam crown since Wimbledon in 2012, needed only 80 minutes to rout Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. “It was on the easier side, so I was able to mix it up, was attacking, was also staying back some. I was pretty much all-out attack as much as I could.” Next up for the Swiss star will be German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer showed he still has what it takes to contend for a title by reaching July's Wimbledon final, losing to top-ranked Novak Djokovic. But as he bid a US Open farewell to a retiring rival who is also 34, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, Federer said he has no idea when he might decide to call it quits. On a dramatic day which saw a record created for the longest women's match, and a new Grand Slam high for retirements from the men's tournament, Andy Murray escaped his earliest exit in 10 years when he came back from two sets down to make the last 32. Then, after midnight, 2009 and 2014 runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, the fourth seed, was knocked out by Czech world No. 149 Petra Cetkovska who saved four match points to win 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1). Third seed and 2012 champion Murray came back from two sets down to defeat tiring Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Murray goes on to face Brazilian 30th seed Thomaz Bellucci for a place in the last 16. Former world No. 1 Hewitt, the champion in 2001, made a dramatic farewell battling from two sets down and having two match points before losing to fellow Australian Bernard Tomic on a rocking Grandstand court. In his final match in New York, the 34-year-old fell 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 after three hours and 27 minutes after his 57th career five-set match. Hewitt will retire after January's Australian Open. America's Jack Sock and Denis Istomin retired from their matches as they wilted in the 33-degree Celsius (91.4 F) heat. Twelve men — a record at the majors — as well as two women have now quit matches in the first four days. The 22-year-old Sock was leading Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 1-2 when he started cramping and was forced to retire. Sock, the 28th seed, collapsed on the court, where he was treated with ice packs by US Open medical staff before being helped off to the shade of the Grandstand. Bemelmans next plays fifth-seeded French Open champion Stan Wawrinka who beat South Korean teenager Chung Hyeon 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6). Istomin called it quits on Court Seven against Austrian 20th seed Dominic Thiem, who was 6-4, 6-4, 1-0 up at the time, with his win coming on his 22nd birthday. The carnage led again to suggestions that the men, who play the best of five sets, should be accorded the same heat protection as women players. The WTA allows a 10-minute break between the second and third sets of women's matches when the mercury bursts through 30.1 degrees. Britain's world No. 97 Johanna Konta made history when she defeated Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza in the longest women's match in US Open history. Konta won 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2 in 3 hours 23 minutes, beating by seven minutes the previous longest match played in 2011 when Samantha Stosur defeated Nadia Petrova. The defeats for Muguruza and Wozniacki left just three of the top 10 left in the tournament — top seed Serena Williams, second seed Simona Halep and fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova. — Agencies
