Tennis: Roger Federer was able to overcome a sloppy performance against unheralded Brazilian Thiago Alves to reach the third round of the US Open.
The second-seeded Federer nearly had as many unforced errors as winners in a tougher-than-expected 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over the 26-year-old Alves, who is ranked 137th in the world.
Number three seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the reigning Australian Open champion, also was tested but fought off unseeded American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (10/8) 6-4 6-4.
Eighth-seeded American Andy Roddick perhaps had the toughest test of all, battling to defeat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 3-6 7-5 6-2 7-5 in just under three hours.
"Tonight was one of those ones that I won on effort," said Roddick, who was the 2003 champion here. "Thanks to (the crowd), you kept me in it when I was losing it. So, thank you."