Queens, New York—No. 1 seed Roger Federer captured his 37th consecutive U.S. Open match today, defeating a sturdy effort from Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

After a first set which featured back-and-forth breaks of serve by either player, it was Hewitt taking his fate into his own hands by holding serve and leading one set to love.

Federer returned to his blade-sharp precision in set two. His backhand slice was skidding through the court, and his first serve became its usual menace. With the score tied at one set all, each combatant strapped down their nerves, and began to get ready for the long-haul.

Although the next two sets remained relatively respectable in terms of score-line, it was Federer who never appeared to be in any real danger of losing.

Credit does go to Hewitt for showing up and giving his all once again. He laced up his boots and conducted himself with the reverence that he had for his opponent, but remained steadfast in his belief of victory.

Observing Hewitt in action today, as well as his win over Juan Ignacio Chela in round two, I was pleasantly surprised to see Hewitt abandon his innate defensive game-style, for a more aggressive and out-0f-the-box version of his bulldog game.

It was this exact aggressive commitment in Hewitt’s game today which allowed him to capture the first set and make Federer’s 14th straight win against him much harder to achieve.

You have to feel for Rusty and his continued efforts to give it his all, and come up short. You can bet that Hewitt would have loved to have picked up the W today, but he should certainly will leave the event proud of his efforts.

Federer will now await the winner of tonight’s night session clash between No. 14 seed Tommy Robredo vs. No. 21 seed James Blake.

No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic also experienced a stern and unsettled win against American Jesse Witten today. Playing in only his second main tour level tournament of the season, the 26-year-old Naples resident was adamant on leaving his stamp on his favorite tournament.

After defeating Igor Andreev and Maximo Gonzalez in the first two rounds (subsequently his first two main tour wins of the season as well as his career) the unfamiliar game of the stalky American was not underestimated by Djokovic.

With the first set going to Witten, via a tie-breaker, Armstrong Stadium was ready to embrace yet another feel-good American story. Taylor Dent had ushered in the feel-good aura to the grounds on Friday evening, with his epic five-set win over Ivan Navarro.

Djokovic immediately jumped out of his seat to begin set two, showing the New York crowd, and new coach Todd Martin, that he wasn’t going home without a fight.

The Serbian’s aggressive mindset dominated second set proceedings. His sneakers began to do most of the damage, scrapping and diligently returning Witten’s hard-struck ground-strokes. Djokovic’s commitment to remaining mentally tough resulted in a one-set-a-piece score-line.

As the excitement in the crowd in Armstrong began to fizz, there was a sense in the comfortable conditions that the tide had completely turned in the direction of the favorite.

Witten, who resembles more of a librarian than a tennis player, continued in the footsteps of his high quality game. He wasn’t going to hand over the contest to Djokovic just yet. If anything, full belief of a victory was still on his mind.

Although Djokovic captured the third and forth sets by the nick of his white racket, the Serb learned something about his opponent today: this Witten character is the real deal.

The 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 6-4 victory by Djokovic will set up a 2007 second round rematch with No. 15 seed Radek Stepanek.

The worm-prone-Czech prevailed in a routine but cautious 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 23 seed Philipp Kohlschrieber.

Stepanek and Djokovic provided one the most exciting encounters of the 2007 championships with a five-hour-plus marathon. That match was played in Armstrong Stadium, and there’s a great possibility that the tournament committee will place the two competitive Europeans on the same show-court. It would only be fitting, right?

No. 8 seed Nikolay Davydenko continued his fan-fair-less oriented run through New York with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 win over Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland.

Davydenko has yet to provide an interview throughout the event, and will take his productive, yet non-show-court charisma into a fourth-round meeting with either Sam Querrey or Robin Soderling.

Soderling is currently up two-sets-to-one, with Querrey sending the Grandstand into a recent frenzy by capturing the third set in a tie-breaker.

Davydenko will be in tough spot against either man, with Soderling winning the last three meetings against the Russian, and Querrey capturing the pair's recent battle in New Haven.

Another match that is currently on the Grandstand has Tommy Haas fighting to stay in a third set situation against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Haas had an opportunity to serve for a two-sets-to-love lead, but faltered under the pressure. The contest is currently headed to a third set tie-break.

The final day session is about to tee-off on Ashe Stadium, which will feature Andy Roddick vs. John Isner. With the Oudin-Sharapova match hovering just shy of three-hours, the all-American affair will likely bleed into the night session. Get ready for some disgruntled evening session ticket holders.

The Roddick-Isner match should provide a stellar tie-break or two.

Please check back on Sunday, when I will have a complete preview and recap of day seven action from Flushing Meadows, New York. Cheers.