Tuesday was an endurance test for the players as they faced the heat and humidity in New York. Some were able to survive and advance, while many were unable to finish. A two-day total of 10 men retired in the first round, and those who advanced were forced to defeat their opponents and the elements.

Murray wears down the volatile Kyrgios

In one of the more anticipated first-round matches, third-seeded Andy Murray defeated Nick Kyrgios 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Early in the first set, the two competitors traded breaks of service. As it progressed, the veteran Murray settled into a groove, while Kyrgios let his frustrations surface. Despite his obvious irritation, the Aussie fought off the momentum from Murray until he served at 5-6. Finally, Murray found another crack in the Kyrgios service game, breaking to take the opening set.

In the second set, Murray continued his steady play as Kyrgios amped up his aggression to his benefit. However, after playing too many nonchalant points, he found himself in another hole that he could not dig out of.

In the third set, Kyrgios appeared to calm his emotions and harness his aggression after some early lackadaisical play. And with both players on serve and Murray serving to stay in the set, the 20-year-old would break the veteran to force a fourth set.

But as quickly as he turned the third set in his favor, Kyrgios would give the momentum back to the Scot with some poor shot selection leading to an early break of service in the fourth set. Murray would gain a second break later in the set after a poorly timed double fault. And after a set that lasted less than 30 minutes, he would close out the match.

With the victory, Murray will advance to meet Adrian Mannarino.

Federer breezes into second round

In a match that some thought could be a test for the second seed, Roger Federer coasted past Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and into the second round. In what amounted to a practice session, the 17-time major champion dominated play from the first ball toss.

The Argentine appeared to struggle physically, but it was unknown as to whether he was hampered by injury. Nevertheless, it was Federer excelling at all aspects of the game. The Swiss was efficient in his serving and tossed in 12 aces while playing clean groundstrokes with 29 winners to just 13 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Mayer struggled, striking 31 unforced errors.

Federer was all business in his approach to the match after Mayer pushed him to his limit in Shanghai in their last meeting. He would weigh in after the match, noting “Thankfully, I took this match extremely seriously. I thought at times almost I was taking it a bit too seriously. I got lucky in Shanghai, so that's why it was just creeping around in my mind that maybe today was going to be a bad day. Plus I had practiced with him here the day of the draw, and he was playing very well in practice, too.”

Next up for the No. 2 seed is Steve Darcis of Belgium, who advanced when Marcos Baghdatis was forced to retire in the fourth set of their match.

Young advances in “Match of the Day”

American Donald Young found himself in a two-set, one-break deficit before he mounted a tremendous comeback to defeat 11th-seeded Gilles Simon 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The match tested each player’s stamina, with the physical play lasting over three hours and 20 minutes in the New York heat.

In the past, Young may have tossed in the towel after falling into such a deep deficit, but he fed off of the supportive crowd. Afterwards, he would acknowledge the spectators on Court 17 for spurring him to victory as he spoke in his post-match interview.

Simon entered New York playing quality tennis, but Young displayed a fighting mentality to a level not seen often during his erratic career. The former prodigy was forced to reach deep to earn the victory. “I was almost ready to go home there,” Young said. “I had nothing to lose and he was kicking my butt, so I started to hit out and I wanted to make him earn it.”

After a tough day for American men on Monday, Young joined John Isner, Jack Sock, and Austin Krajicek, who all advanced into the second round.