NEW YORK — Roger Federer is one cool customer.
The temperature climbed into the 90s yet again Thursday at Flushing Meadows, and the guy showed up for work wearing a warmup jacket. Then he put in his 1 hour, 41 minutes on court, dismissing 104th-ranked Andreas Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 with the help of 15 aces, to ease into the third round of the U.S. Open.
"It's about just saving your energy for the really big match coming up, maybe the next one," Federer said, perhaps mindful that he was pushed to five sets in the opening round at Wimbledon in June before eventually losing in the quarterfinals at a second consecutive major tournament.
He dropped all of seven games in the first round of the U.S. Open, and the owner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles is feeling pretty good about things at the moment.
"I got a sense for how the court speed is again. I got the sense of the crowd and the wind now, as well. I played one night, one day," he said. "I have all the answers after two matches."
In other words: Let everyone else sweat it out.
Other Day 4 action saw a handful of upsets. Beatrice Capra, an 18-year-old from Ellicott City, Md., ousted No. 18-seeded Aravane Rezai of France 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Peng Shuai, and No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez lost to Patty Schnyder. Seeded winners included 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva. Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, like Federer, didn't waste any time on court, blanking 84th-ranked Chang Kai-chen 6-0, 6-0.
At 371st, Capra is the lowest-ranked woman left. She's also the youngest — and not only is she making her Grand Slam debut, she's playing in the main draw of a tour-level event for the first time. She said she "watched every second" as Melanie Oudin, then 17, reached the quarterfinals 12 months ago.
"I really look up to Melanie," said Capra, who earned a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association by winning an eight-entrant playoff.
One of the women Oudin knocked off in 2009, three-time major champion Maria Sharapova, awaits Capra in the third round. Wearing tuxedo lapels on her deep purple night-match dress, Sharapova beat 68th-ranked Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 under the lights.
"When I was younger, I used to always look up to her," Capra said about 2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova, who is all of 23 now, "and so I think it will be a really good match for me to see where I am compared to that kind of level."
Asked what she knows about Capra, the 14th-seeded Sharapova said: "Not too much. I know that she's American, and she's 18, I believe."
Sharapova's match was followed by 2008 Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in the final match of the day.
Among those winning in the afternoon were Richard Gasquet, a former top-10 player who eliminated No. 6-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; and Robin Soderling, a two-time French Open runner-up who beat American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Americans Mardy Fish and James Blake won, as did No. 13 Jurgen Melzer, No. 21 Albert Montanes and No. 22 Juan Carlos Ferrero.
