Federer, Fish advance; Blake falls to Djokovic

Aside from Roger Federer, who again made it look easy Saturday, other notable contestants in the U.S. Open men's field spent the day trying to beg, borrow or steal their way into the next round.

James Blake, the 30-year-old former top-five player who now is ranked 108th after a series of injuries, didn't make it. He lost last night to No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-1,7-6 (4), 6-3.

It took Mardy Fish, the thin man reshaping his career at 28, five sets to dispense with France's Arnaud Clement, ranked 68th. It took Frenchman Gael Monfils, the 17th seed, four sets - two of them requiring tiebreaks - to send Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic packing.

Tipsarevic is the man who ended Andy Roddick's Open on Thursday, which may not have helped his popularity with the New York crowd, while Monfils thrilled and entertained with his sliding gets and general flair.

"I love the atmosphere here," Monfils said after his 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 victory. "I love the city, also. I love the crowd."

The 30-pounds-lighter-than-last-year Fish, playing with his highest-ever Open seeding (19), experienced plenty of ups and downs but finished on the high of a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 score. He then turned to the Louis Armstrong Stadium's four corners to salute the crowd, wrapping his arms around himself in a symbolic hug of the fans.

"I stole that from Jonas Bjorkman," Fish said. "I saw him do it at Wimbledon. He was thanking the crowd for the help. They pulled me through today."

Federer, five times the Open champion, still has not lost a set through three rounds and has been lighthearted about his recent decision to bring a new coach, Paul Annacone, on board. "He's behaving so far, so it's working out," Federer said.

Annacone previously worked with Pete Sampras, when Sampras was winning the last of his 14 major titles - a record until Federer ran his total to 16. But plenty has been made of the fact that Federer is not quite so dominant the past couple of years.

He continued to downplay the coaching arrangement. After his first match here, Federer kidded that his "break point conversion wasn't very good, so that's [Annacone's] fault.''

Asked Saturday what Annacone has "brought to the table," Federer said, "No food."

On the subject of food, and how Fish drastically has changed his eating habits to slim down, Federer offered that "it's great to show maybe other players what's possible at a later stage in your career - if you can come up with new ideas. You know: Let's change it up and see what happens."