US Open Diary; Monfils, Federer, Haas and More...

© Getty ImagesGael Monfils displayed all his athletic prowess in a five-set defeat to Juan Carlos Ferrero on Thursday.

ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at the US Open on the first Thursday.

Monfils Throws Himself Into It
World No. 7 Gael Monfils may not have prevailed in his five-set tussle with Juan Carlos Ferrero on Thursday, but the Frenchman certainly left his mark on the court, in more ways than one, as he displayed all his athletic prowess. The Parisian, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, ignored the fact he was playing on a hard court and readily threw himself into every point, quite literally.

When asked about his willingness to dive on a hard court, Monfils admitted, “I think some things just switch off in my mind. I just see the ball and I'm like, ‘Well, you have to do it’, and then I dive. Every time you're like, ‘Oh, no’.  I know the dive is so good for two seconds. Then you're like, ‘Oh, @!#%’, it’s still hard.

“It's really tough because I know all the people think I'm like elastic. I'm diving. If I stay a little bit longer on the floor, they're like, ‘He's acting’.  I'm not like X Man. For 30 seconds I hurt. But maybe something is missing upstairs because I go back to do it again. I think I'm kind of blessed because I never really hurt myself.  So I think I'm gifted with that.”

Roger Likes Fast Play
Speaking after his second-round win on Thursday, five-time US Open champion Roger Federer applauded the efforts of tennis officials to attempt to speed up the game, but thinks it should be played at an even faster pace.

“I still think we can push the boundaries.  If you look at how much time we can take walking onto the match, onto the court until the first ball is hit; there are many times where it takes way too long between points. I still think officials should and could be more strict.

“Sometimes I wonder if they're more strict on the outside courts than on the big courts, even though on the big courts you kind of give some leeway to players, because you know they're not doing it out of not being fair, but just that's how they do it. I've felt like this past six months they've been trying to speed up the warm-ups. Instead of saying, ‘two minutes’ they say, ‘three minutes’ when you're at the net and stuff.

Tommy Turns Back The Clock
Former World No. 2 Tommy Haas rolled back the years on Thursday as he reached the third round of the US Open with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Falla. The 33-year-old German has been besieged by injury in the past couple of years, but after recovering from hip and elbow surgery he believes he still has more to offer tennis.

“We can sit here probably pretty long and go through the last 16, 17 months again of my tennis career,” said Haas, who will play Juan Monaco next. “Having a pretty tough surgery to come back from, it's never easy; and the hip definitely is not easy. When you get a little bit older and you haven't been around for quite some time, to re-find your game once again is quite a challenge that I took because I still feel like I've got some good tennis in me and I want to try to start playing the sport on my own terms. So to be here in the third round once again is a great feeling.

“I'm just certainly going to try to enjoy this tournament, try to get focused for my next match, and try to play better each time. I know that one day this tour life that I've always wanted to do is going to be over, so I'm just going try and enjoy it as much as I can and keep playing if my body allows me to.”

Roger’s Bedtime Reading
In a bid to fully understand the psyche of his greatest rival, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer may well read the Spaniard’s biography, but admitted on Thursday he hasn’t yet had time to buy a copy of the book.

“I might read it,” said the Swiss. “I don't know. I haven't come across it yet. He hasn't given me one yet. (Laughter.) If he doesn't, I'll go buy one. That's not the issue. (Laughter.) No, I haven't had the time yet. I don't know if it's going to happen soon.”

Fans Want Nole Encore
Fans attending the Arthur Ashe night session on Thursday were treated to a 63-minute victory by Caroline Wozniacki and then a 90-minute 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 rout by Novak Djokovic. It seems not everyone was satisfied just with seeing a blistering display from the World No. 1s, though, as Djokovic recalled in his post-match interview.

“One of the guys on the way out told me, ‘Listen, I paid 100 bucks and you only stayed for an hour and a half on the court! That’s a lot of money to pay for the ticket. Give me something so I can go back home with a happy face, give me a racquet or something.’ [Laughs]”

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