World number one Djokovic was handed a walkover when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their second round encounter suffering an inflammation of the left forearm.
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He goes on to face experienced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the last 16.
Leslie Leith-Tedeschi, a Manhattanite who has been coming to the matches for years, said the buzz is mostly people’s conversations. “I was looking forward to playing Novak, I would have nothing to lose”. Its a lot of fun, a lot of excitement.
Roberta Vinci, the 2015 runner-up, and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova both also booked third round spots on Wednesday.
Sock is now 2-0 against Cilic, having come back from two sets down to win their Davis Cup match this year.
Raonic, considered as a potential title dangerman in NY, hit 69 winners but committed 62 unforced errors.
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been fined $10,000 by the U.S. Open for a vulgar comment directed at a spectator during his first-round loss.
“I’ve come a long way and I want to see the tennis”, she said, dismissing any buzz about the buzz.
The sixth-seeded Nishikori beat 20-year-old qualifier Karen Khachanov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the third round.
Halep won 6-3, 6-4 under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday.
Britains Kyle Edmund backed up his first round win over world number 15 Richard Gasquet with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over USA wildcard Ernesto Escobedo.
The third-seeded Spaniard was upset in straight sets Wednesday by Anastasija Sevastova, who returned to tennis last season after a almost two-year retirement. When rain halted action, the players had split the first two sets and were knotted at 4-4 in the third.
And as tennis writer Ben Rothenberg noted via Twitter, the noise within Arthur Ashe during Rafael Nadal’s match against Andreas Seppi was comparable to the noise level of a food blender.
Nadal said overall he was very happy with the way he had played against Seppi and especially that his forehand “down the line” was working well. Rain has often been a schedule-wreaker at the U.S. Open, where the men’s final was postponed five consecutive years from 2008-12.
Anastasija Sevastova, who beat Muguruza, agreed about the noise problem.
The seventh-seeded Italian needed almost two hours to top 102nd-ranked Carina Witthoeft 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the third round Friday.
It’s not simply that it’s an unfamiliar soundtrack for a Grand Slam match.
On the women’s side, second-seeded Angelique Kerber has yet to drop a set after beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to advance to the third round, while French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and ninth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova were upset.
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Second-seeded Andy Murray noted that the closed Ashe was loud, definitely louder than the retractable-roof stadium at Wimbledon but that it was up to athletes to adjust to such variables.
