Glorious sunshine and soaring temperatures mark the start of day six at Flushing Meadows and first in action on Arthur Ashe Stadium is top seed Roger Federer, taking on Lleyton Hewitt in a repeat of the 2004 final
It looks as though a huge upset might be on the cards as Hewitt, the 2001 champion, breaks Federer in game nine before serving out the opening set
But Federer's game soon clicks into gear and, despite committing 59 unforced errors, he fights back to win 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 and set up a fourth-round meeting with Tommy Robredo or James Blake
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic struggles with the heat early on in his match against American qualifier Jesse Witten and ends up dropping his first set of the tournament
Witten initially looks fresh from his shock victories over Igor Andreev and Maximo Gonzalez, but the 26-year-old begins to falter as Djokovic cranks up the intensity
Djokovic, the 2007 runner-up, throws everything at his opponent and is rewarded with a 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 triumph
Standing between Djokovic and a place in the quarter-finals is Czech 15th seed Radek Stepanek, who comes from a set down to oust Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3
Maria Sharapova continues her comeback from injury against American teenager Melanie Oudin and the 29th seed from Russia makes a solid start by taking the first set
Oudin, who knocked Jelena Jankovic out of Wimbledon and beat Elena Dementieva in round two at Flushing Meadows, battles back against Sharapova and, with the Arthur Ashe crowd on her side, takes the second set
The momentum swings in both directions in the final set as Sharapova's double-fault count rises to 21 and Oudin comes through for a stunning 3-6 6-4 7-5 triumph
Next in the Oudin firing line is Nadia Petrova after the Russian beat China's beat Jie Zheng 6-4 6-1
Nikolay Davydenko, seeded number eight, storms into round four with a 6-4 7-5 7-5 win over world number 161 Marco Chiudinelli. The Russian is still yet to drop a set in this year's tournament
Things are sure to get tougher for Davydenko, however, because he now faces a fourth-round meeting with 12th seed Robin Soderling. The French Open runner-up bounced back from a third-set blip to beat 22nd seed Sam Querrey 6-2 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-1
Andy Roddick gets off to a poor start in his third-round match against fellow American John Isner, the 2003 champion and fifth seed conceding the first set on a tie-break
In the battle of the big servers, things continue to go Isner's way and it looks like Roddick could be heading out of his hom Grand Slam as his 6ft 9in opponent, who wears size 15 shoes, wraps up the second set
Roddick's wife Brooklyn Decker looks to the heavens, perhaps in search of some divine inspiration to turn her husband's fortunes around
Arthur Ashe Stadium is rocking to the tune of a Roddick comeback as the fifth seed hits back to take the third and fourth sets against Isner
The winner of the Roddick-Isner match will play Fernando Verdasco after the number 10 seed from Spain comes from a break down in the final set to edge out German veteran Tommy Haas 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-8) 1-6 6-4
A hair-tie malfunction does little to disrupt the progress of Caroline Wozniacki - the 19-year-old Dane, seeded ninth, eases past Sorana Cristea and will face Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ousts Shahar Peer
Back on Arthur Ashe, play goes with serve throughout the final set until Isner forces a mini-break in the tie-break and never looks back. The unseeded 6ft 9in powerhouse sends fifth seed Roddick crashing to a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 (7-5) defeat
Thousands of fans watch the drama unfold on big screens outside Arthur Ashe Stadium court. The night session does not begin until 10pm local times (0200 BST)
World number one Dinara Safina has her match against unseeded Czech 17-year-old Petra Kvitova moved to Louis Armstrong and she cannot bare to look as she loses the first set
The error count from both players continues to rise in the second set but world number 72 Kvitova suffers most and Safina bounces back to level the match at one set all
A tumultuous deciding set sees chances come and go for Safina and Kvitova but it is the Czech who holds her nerve to come through on a tie-break and eliminate the top seed with 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-5) triumph
An unforgettable day ends in disappointment for the home fans as 21st seed James Blake succumbs 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4 to Spanish 14th seed Tommy Robredo
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