All of the players considered as favourites for the title of 2008 US Open tennis Grand Slam tournament advanced to the third round.

World number one Rafael Nadal got the better of Serbia's Viktor Troicki on August 31, winning in three straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-0). Nadal, who will try to steal yet another title from Roger Federer will play in the next round against American Sam Querrey, who won against Croatia's Ivo Karlovic in three sets.

Three sets was what Federer needed to go through, beating Czech Radek Stepanek (6-3, 6-3, 6-2), and advancing to the fourth round where the world number two will play against Russian Igor Andreev.

Unlike his second round game, this time Novak Djokovic had to put a little more effort to win his match against Croatia's Marin Cilic. Losing the first set to Cilic was what Djokovic needed to get him started and the match ended in a 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 win for the Serb. He will play against Spain's Tommy Robrego in the fourth round.

Andy Roddick and Andy Murray also got rough the fourth round after winning their matches against Italian Andreas Seppi and Austrian Jurgen Melzer, respectively.