NEW YORK -- An all-day rain of the kind that plagued the US Open on Tuesday can wreak havoc on the schedule. Wednesday, the vast fleet of players who spent most of Tuesday listening to their playlists, watching YouTube videos or playing Foosball in the player lounge all hit the courts. That brought the tournament up to date, with Thursday dedicated to the top half matchups in both draws.
That means top-seed Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer will continue their march toward a much-anticipated semifinal clash. Nadal probably has the edge in degree of difficulty associated with their second-round opponents. Taro Daniel, who survived a five-set, first-round contest with American youngster Tommy Paul, has never faced that fierce Nadal forehand -- and has not beaten a top-10 player.
Daniel was born in the U.S. to an American father and Japanese mother. He's 6-foot-3, lives in Valencia, Spain, and competes for Japan. He hit a career-high ranking of No. 85 last April, but has since fallen to No. 121. He has won just two Grand Slam singles matches in eight tournaments.
Mikhail Youzhny, by contrast, is a battle-scarred 35-year-old veteran who has had 31 wins (and 86) losses against top-10 players in the course of his 18-year career. He's a talented player who stands 6 feet tall but plays like he's significantly larger. He has a big serve, nice touch, and a smooth all-around game. Youzhny earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Moscow in 2011, which might help him deal with the bleak prospect of facing Federer, who has won each of the 16 times they've met.
Power play
Three highly ranked power servers in the women's' draw are likely to advance to the third round, led by top seed Karolina Pliskova. She'll meet U.S. qualifier Nicole Gibbs, while No. 15 Madison Keys faces Tatjana Maria and No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe plays Ons Jabeur. The only player ranked inside the top 100 among the three underdogs is Jabeur, who barely got in under the wire at No. 99.
For your eyes only
Nineteen-year-old Taylor Fritz is one of the most promising talents in the gifted under-20 generation currently trying to punch through to the elite level. He had a nice first-round win against Marcos Baghdatis. He's facing a gut-check match with perhaps the most overlooked male contender at this US Open, No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem.
It's not like Thiem resents being relatively unnoticed. During his first-round media briefing, he tried to play down the fact that he's one of the favorites, saying: "I think I'm not in the first row of the favorites. Of course maybe in the second, but I think there are more eyes on three, four, five other players. So I can play calm from the background."
Inspired countrywomen
Three of Naomi Osaka's Japanese countrywomen appear to have been inspired by Osaka's stunning win against reigning champion and No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber. Nao Hibino, Risa Ozaki, and Kurumi Nara also advanced on Wednesday, Hibino and Ozaki surviving harrowing three-setters.
Two of the four have excellent opportunities to advance Thursday. Osaka ought to get by Denisa Allertova, Ozaki gets No. 27-seed Zhang Shuai. And Hibino will meet former French Open finalist Lucie Safarova, while Nara drew the short straw. She plays former US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Ships bumping in the night
Two flashy, enormously popular members of the vaunted but now greatly diminished "Spanish Armada" will meet in the second round. The resemblance between them is striking. Feliciano Lopez is seeded No. 31, Fernando Verdasco, once ranked No. 7, has dropped to 43. Lopez is 35 years old, Verdasco is 33. Both men are lefties, both hit a two-handed backhand, and their career head-to-head is 4-4. Which is going to emerge superior, Lopez's net-rushing aggression or Verdasco's spectacular ground game?