US Open championshipsPost-match autographs can be a perfunctory business. Not so for Andy Murray. After beating the American Robert Kendrick 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, the teenage British number one spent up to 10 minutes signing outsize tennis balls, programmes, articles of clothing and crumpled paper while chatting to the crowd. He loves this tournament.

"The atmosphere is different to all the other slams. Everything about the US Open makes it my favourite tournament. It matches my personality the best."

Those at the All England club may bridle at such enthusiasm, but Americans are beginning to take the Scot to their heart. Understandably, most were on Kendrick's side initially.

"They were saying stuff like 'Robby, you've got him' and 'Murray's got nothing'. Maybe they were trying to put me off, but I was laughing at them."

He cannot wait to step into the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world's biggest tennis arena, for a night match, and that opportunity will surely come sooner rather than later. But for the moment Murray must turn his thoughts to something more humdrum, namely today's second-round match against Italy's Alessio Di Mauro, who at 29 is making his singles debut at Flushing Meadows and has played fewer than a dozen hard-court matches in his life.

Not that Murray is taking him lightly, and with good reason. Di Mauro beat him 6-2, 6-1 in a Challenger event in March last year on clay.

"I got a pretty bad beating, though at that stage I'd played about four Challengers and he'd played 204. He doesn't make too many mistakes, can run all day and has lots of experience. But if I play like I have been doing I should be okay."

Di Mauro, from Sicily, did not commit himself fully to the ATP circuit until his mid-20s, and is full of admiration for the 19-year-old Murray.

"For sure he will become a top-10 player," he said. "Maybe the only thing that could hold him back would be the pressure of being one of the few top players in Britain, just like Tim Henman."

While Murray, who had a dip of concentration in the second set against Kendrick, must be completely focused against Di Mauro, Henman has no option but to lay everything on the line from the start in his second-round match, against Roger Federer.

"It all depends how you want to look at - either as a tough draw or a great opportunity. Tiger Woods is the best in the world, but he's beatable. It's the same with Roger. You need things to go your way and for him to have a bit of an off-day."

The last time they met, in Wimbledon's second round this year, Henman managed a mere six games. Even when Henman was in his richest vein of grand-slam form two years ago, when he reached the semi-finals of the French and US Opens, Federer still beat him in straight sets here.

Henman's 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-3 first-round win over Greg Rusedski could well have signalled the end of a decade of rivalry. Rusedski, still nursing a serious hip injury, intends to play in Britain's Davis Cup relegation tie against Ukraine in Odessa this month and may then bring down the curtain on a career, the highlight of which was his appearance in the final here in 1997.

This was probably his last match in a grand slam and, though obviously disappointed to lose, he was realistic.

"The worst thing is when you see an athlete and can tell that they can't do it any more. It's nice to get the farewells and everything, like Andre Agassi, but it can be an anticlimax."

No final decision just yet, but it would be a major surprise now if Rusedski played on next year.

Second seed Rafael Nadal came through a tough test as he beat Peru's Luis Horna 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the third round.

The Spaniard, who has never been beyond the third round at Flushing Meadows, coped well with an inspired Horna before clinching victory in two hours 43 minutes.

"It was a very tough match," Nadal said. "Luis was playing very well with his forehand and serve so I am very happy with this victory."

Nadal looked set for an easy victory when he led by a set and a break, but world number 61 Horna produced some outstanding tennis to break back in the sixth game and again in the 10th to level the match.

The French Open champion saved two break points when serving for the third set and then eased through the fourth.

In the women's draw, former champions Justine Henin-Hardenne and Lindsay Davenport remained on course for a quarter-final showdown with lopsided second-round victories.

Henin-Hardenne whipped American Vania King 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour, while Davenport overwhelmed Croatia's Jelena Kostanic 6-0 6-0 on a breezy day with clear skies.

Second seed Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 champion, had no problem with King despite committing 18 unforced errors.

"I thought it was a lot closer than 6-1 6-2," said the 17-year-old King, who was set to sing them national anthem before the evening session.

"I made her play a lot of balls. But I didn't convert a lot of the points I should have."

Davenport (30), blitzed Kostanic in 40 minutes, showing no sign of the shoulder injury that forced her to retire in the final of last week's event in New Haven.

Flushing Meadows Results

MEN - Singles - First round: (1) R Federer (Swi) bt Y-T Wang (Tpe) 6-4 6-1 6-0, T Henman (Brit) bt G Rusedski (Brit) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-3, V Spadea (US) bt G Muller (Lux) 6-2 6-4 6-3, (29) J Bjorkman (Swe) bt S Jenkins (US) 7-5 6-4 6-4, (21) G Gaudio (Arg) bt A Seppi (Ita) 6-4 6-4 6-2, S Querrey (US) bt P Kohlschreiber (Ger) 6-3 6-4 6-4, M Gicquel (Fra) bt C Rochus (Bel) 6-3 6-3 6-4, (16) J C Ferrero (Spa) bt G Bastl (Swi) 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-3, A Falla (Col) bt J M Del Potro (Arg) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 4-6 7-5, (23) D Tursunov (Rus) bt I Kunitsyn (Rus) 6-2 6-3 6-4, C Moya (Spa) bt (28) A Calleri (Arg) 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 6-3, P-H Mathieu (Fra) bt J Goodall (Brit) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3, (5) J Blake (US) bt J Monaco (Arg) 6-3 7-5 7-6 (9-7), (18) R Ginepri (US) bt J Benneteau (Fra) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4, P Goldstein (US) bt J Witten (US) 6-3 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-1, R Sluiter (Ned) bt W Odesnik (US) 6-4 6-4 7-5, (14) T Haas (Ger) bt A Kuznetsov (US) 6-2 6-4 6-0, A Di Mauro (Ita) bt J Melzer (Aut) 5-7 6-1 7-5 7-5, (17) A Murray (Brit) bt R Kendrick (US) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-3, L Kubot (Pol) bt (32) K Vliegen (Bel) 2-6 6-1 6-4 1-6 6-3, N Okun (Isr) bt P Starace (Ita) 6-2 6-0 0-6 6-2, N Mahut (Fra) bt R Schuettler (Ger) 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3, (7) N Davydenko (Rus) bt R Delgado (Par) 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-0, (27) G Monfils (Fra) bt M Russell (US) 6-2 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4), W Moodie (Rsa) bt M Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4,

Second round: (9) A Roddick (US) bt K Pless (Den) 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. (6) T Robredo (Spa) bt HT Lee (Kor) 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-1, S Wawrinka (Swi) bt R Soderling (Swe) 6-7 (4-7) 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 6-1, (22) F Verdasco (Spa) bt T Alves (Bra) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1, R Nadal (Spa) bt L Horna (Per) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-2, (25) R Gasquet (Fra) bt G Si mon (Fra) 6-0 6-2 6-3, (11) D Ferrer (Spa) bt J Gimelstob (US) 6-2 6-4 6-1, X Malisse (Bel) bt B Phau (Ger) 6-3 6-0 6-2

WOMEN - Singles - First round: M Santangelo (Ita) bt L Raymond (US) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2, S Bammer (Aut) bt (13) N Dechy (Fra) 5-7 6-3 6-1, (17) D Hantuchova (Svk) bt B Mattek (US) 7-5 6-3, S Williams (US) bt L Dominguez Lino (Spa) 6-1 6-2, A Nakamura (Jpn) bt M Czink (Hun) 6-1 6-2, (16) A Ivanovic (Ser) bt V Dushevina (Rus) 6-3 5-7 6-4, (12) D Safina (Rus) bt Y Beygelzimer (Ukr) 6-1 6-3, J Fedak (Ukr) bt T Poutchek (Blr) 7-5 6-3, Y Fedossova (Fra) bt (25) A M Garrigues (Spa) 7-5 6-1, K Kanepi (Est) bt S Foretz (Fra) 3-6 7-5 6-1, V Razzano (Fra) bt Maret Ani (Est) 7-5 6-4, (8) M Hingis (Swi) bt S Peng (Chn) 4-6 6-1 6-3, (3) M Sharapova (Rus) bt M Krajicek (Ned) 6-3 6-0, E Loit (Fra) bt C Pin (Fra) 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-4), N Pratt (Aus) bt M Sequera (Ven) 1-6 7-5 6-2, (32) ELikhovtseva (Rus) bt Tian Tian Sun (Chn) 4-6 6-0 6-4, (24) Na Li (Chn) bt MA Sanchez-Lorenzo (Spa) 4-6 6-3 6-0, E Birnerova (Cze) bt G Voskoboeva (Rus) 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3, (13) M Pierce (Fra) bt E Vesnina (Rus) 7-5 6-1, J Jackson (US) bt T Pironkova (Bul) 6-1 6-2, (27) T Golovin (Fra) bt A Harkleroad (US) 6-3 7-5, A Radwanska (Pol) bt Z Yan (Chn) 6-0 7-5, V Ruano Pascual (Spa) bt A Frazier (US) 6-2 6-1, (5) N Petrova (Rus) bt C Fernandez (Arg) 6-2 6-1. Second round: (10) L Davenport (US) bt J Kostanic (Cro) 6-0 6-0, (6) S Kuznetsova (Rus) bt L Albanese (US) 6-1 6-1, (20) M Kirilenko (Rus) bt S Bremond (Fra) 6-2 6-3, (26) M Bartoli (Fra) bt V Lepchenko (Uzb) 6-1 6-2, (19) J Jankovic (Ser) bt K Flipkens (Bel) 6-2 6-3, (21) S Peer (Isr) bt M Muller (Ger) 6-1 5-7 6-2, (14) F Schiavone (Ita) bt S Mirza (Ind) 5-7 6-1 6-2, (2) J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt V King (US) 6-1 6-2, (7) P Schnyder (Swi) bt S Arvidsson (Swe) 6-3 7-5, A Rezai (Fra) bt L Safarova (Cze) 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-4, M Santangelo (Ita) bt S Bammer (Aut) 6-3 6-1, J Gajdosova (Svk) bt V Kutuzova (Ukr) 6-3 7-6 (7-5), A Rodionova (Rus) bt (29) J Zheng (Chn) 7-5 6-3, (23) A Chakvetadze (Rus) bt A Bondarenko (Ukr) 7-6 (8-6) 6-0, (4) E Dementieva (Rus) bt E Laine (Fin) 6-4 6-0, (12) D Safina (Rus) bt J Fedak (Ukr) 6-3 6-4,