Federer Handily Wins Second Round U.S. Open Match

Flushing Meadows, NY (AHN) - Roger Federer may no longer be invincible, but he is still very, very good.

The four-time defending U.S. Open champion toppled Brazilian qualifier Thiago Alves 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Friday in a second round match.

Federer seems to be rounding out his overall play for a potential showdown with Rafael Nadal, aggressively approaching the net often vs. Alves.

He was successful in 24 of 42 of those attempts and seems to be relishing the possibility of overtaking Nadal again in a final.

Nadal recently took over as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, defeating Federer in a classic Wimbeldon final

Nadal had to go to tiebreaker twice in his opening match here, but easily dispatched a second foe in losing just seven games Thursday.

On the women's side, major upsets are occuring as No. 3 seed Svetlana Kutznetsova fell to No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-3.

Kutznetsova was off her game, and did not have an answer for Srebotnik's strong net play.