Top seed Dinara Safina struggled in her opening match and toils again against Germany's Kristina Barrois, losing the opening set on a tie-break and making 20 unforced errors in the process
The Russian battles back to win the second set 6-2 and responds after slipping 2-0 down in the final set to win it 6-3 but 15 double faults lead to several frustrated outbursts and hint at an unhappy player
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva - like Safina - is looking for her first Grand Slam and takes the first set in her second-round match against American Melanie Oudin
But 17-year-old Oudin shows great courage as she shrugs off an injury to her left thigh to win the next two sets and complete a famous victory
In contrast, Germany's Tommy Haas enjoys a comfortable second-round experience, defeating Robert Kendrick of the US 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in front of an appreciative crowd
Haas meets Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the third round after the 10th seed overcomes the presence of a leopard on his back to defeat France's Florent Serra 6-3 6-0 6-3
Scot Andy Murray is not in action on Thursday but the number two seed looks relaxed as he trains ahead of his second-round encounter against Chile's Paul Capdeville
Serbian Jelena Jankovic reached the final last year but the fifth seed loses an epic contest against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova that lasts two hours and 40 minutes
There might have been a few shocks in the women's competition but sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia experiences no such problems as she sees off the challenge of Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 6-2
Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark wastes no time in brushing aside Croatia's Petra Martic - the ninth seed winning 6-1 6-0 in a mere 57 minutes
The Williams sisters are competing in their first women's doubles at Flushing Meadow for eight years and they open their campaign with a 6-2 6-2 win over Julia Goerges and Arantxa Parra Santonja
Fans gather outside Arthur Ashe Stadium for the night matches but must wait as the day session goes on longer than expected
The sun sets over Flushing Meadows as fourth seed Novak Djokovic sees off Carsten Ball in straight sets
Local hero James Blake finally brings the day session to a close on Ashe with a thrilling four-set win over Olivier Rochus
Maria Sharapova is made to wait for her night-session match against American teenager Christina McHale but makes a flying start
Sharapova needs just 73 minutes to see off the 17-year-old, and the 2006 champion goes on to face another American teenager in Melanie Oudin in round three
American hope Andy Roddick takes on Marc Gicquel in the final match of day four on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Gicquel soon finds himself a set down and is also unhappy about the length of time between changeovers as American TV heads to advert breaks
Roddick's wife, Brookyln Decker, looks on as her man powers into a two-set lead
Roddick puts in another powerful performance and survives a nervous final game to win 6-1 6-4 6-4 and move into the last 32
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