Latest results Day three pictures

The Swiss star became the first man to reach the third round with a 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-1 victory.

Federer overwhelmed the 19-year-old Cypriot in the first set but let a lead slip in the second, before regaining his focus to wrap up the match.

The top seed will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov or France's 31st seed Fabrice Santoro in the last 32.

"I let him in the match and he took advantage of it," said Federer after his victory. "He took his chances in the second set and surprised me with some of his shots.

"The match was almost too easy at the beginning and then all of sudden I was in a fight. Once I got my focus back in the third set he wasn't able to recover."

It's pretty much the worst year of my tennis career so far Mark Philippoussis Quotes of the day

Fourth seed Lleyton Hewitt earlier breezed past Wayne Ferreira 6-1 7-5 6-4 in the first round.

Hewitt arrived at Flushing Meadows as a contender with a winning streak of 11 matches, while Ferreira was playing in his final Grand Slam event.

"When I get on a roll like I have been and I am winning more matches I feel more confident out there," said Hewitt after his victory.

"The last few weeks I have been playing as well as I ever have."

Fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis suffered a much worse day as he retired with a hip injury when trailing Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 1-4.

"It was a spasm or something," said Philippoussis.