Tennis:It looms as a mismatch of classic proportions. Andy Murray, the world number four and one of the favourites to win the US Open title against Dustin Brown, a dreadlocked Jamaican ranked 123rd in the world.
When they enter Arthur Ashe Stadium later today to play for a spot in the third round, the odds will be heavily stacked in Murray’s favour. Brown could be excused for feeling as though he was being fed to the lions.
Yet the Jamaican, who cannot afford a coach and spends most of his time battling it out in the German Bundesliga, does have one major advantage over his Scottish opponent.
"Yeah, I've seen him on TV. I've seen that he's a very good returner," he said.
It may not be enough for him to pull off the upset, but it is more than Murray knows about Brown.
"I've heard about him," Murray said. "But I haven't seen him play, so another unknown opponent, really."
A victory for Murray will keep him on course for a possible semi-final showdown with world number one Rafa Nadal, who plays Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the feature night session at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal will be the overwhelming favourite to continue his bid to land the one grand slam title that has eluded him but remains wary about Istomin after their previous clash in London two months ago that Nadal won after a tight struggle.
While Murray and Nadal will be playing only their second matches, the women, who started a day earlier, will be playing their third, marking the first stage seeded players face each other.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters, the defending champion and second seed, will tackle Czech Petra Kvitova, seeded 27th. Venus Williams will have to wait until the fourth round before she can play a seed. Her next opponent is Luxembourg's Many Minella, who had to come through the qualifiers just to get into the main draw.
Unrelenting heat and swirling winds has transformed the last grand slam of the year into a battle against the elements and now Hurricane Earl is approaching New York, threatening to dump on the city that never sleeps.
It is little wonder then that the top players were in such a rush to get off the courts as quickly as possible last night, battering their lower-ranked opponents as swiftly and ruthlessly as the wacky weather.
For the second time this week, Roger Federer cruised to victory in straight sets. His 6-3 6-4 6-3 victim was Germany's Andreas Beck. It was all over in one hour 41 minutes and even the Swiss master himself was impressed.
"It's the perfect start," he said. "I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I'm completely in the tournament."
Russia's Maria Sharapova was also in a hurry, trampling Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1 6-2, but neither of the former champions could keep pace with Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, the runner-up to Clijsters 12 months ago.
Wozniacki needed just 47 minutes to breeze past Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 6-0 6-0 and will face Sharapova in the fourth round if they both win their next matches.
The casualty rate among the seeds in the first four days of the championship has been almost as brutal as the baking heat with 20 making early exits, including four more yesterday.
Aravane Rezai and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez were knocked out of the women's draw while Croatia's Marin Cilic, the men's 11th seed, was upset by Japan's Kei Nishikori 5-7 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-1 in one of the few matches that went the distance.