Roger Federer beats Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets

Roger Federer is sunk back on his chair, minus his shirt. And Arthur Ashe Stadium is now a house of whistles. About a thousand pouted lips flute out the same, ‘Hey Sexy’, double beat-tune: Pheee, phiieeeuuw. Federer, though, doesn’t seem to notice. He’s grooming back his hair, shaking his left knee, waiting for the umpire to restart proceedings.

“Time,” says the man on the high-chair. But New York City is far from ready.

Inside Ashe, spectators in faded baseball caps are still shuffling back to their top-dollar seats — sideways over a row of knees, apologising over spilling beer. Above, a passenger plane signals its squalling descent into La Guardia, the nearby airport. And just around the bend, a subway train rattles heavily on alloy rails.