Federer suggests he has ironed out early concerns as he cruises through

The world No 3 had been a little erratic in his first-round win over Santiago Giraldo, letting his opponent retrieve a double break in the opening set and also temporarily letting him off the hook in the second.

That match took place in the night session and Federer blamed the slow courts, but playing in the heat of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday he had no such problems.

The 30-year-old was particularly impressive on his serve, dropping only seven points during the match and never giving Sela a sniff of a break.

That piled the pressure on the Israeli to hold onto his serve, and it was a test he could not pass. The world No 93 has a stylish one-handed backhand but not the power to trouble a player like Federer.

The five-times former US Open champion broke for the first time in the sixth game and two breaks each in the second and third sets allowed him to clinch victory after only 77 minutes.

Andy Murray vowed there is plenty more to come after surviving a few sticky moments in his first-round win over Somdev Devvarman.

The fourth seed could easily have lost the first set after dropping his serve in the opening game on Wednesday but he pulled through on a tie-break and went on to dominate the rest of the match.

Murray does not consider a bit of a first-round struggle to be a bad thing and feels experience has taught him that working your way into a tournament is the best way to succeed.

He said: “I think I definitely can play better, and that’s important. I don’t think you want to be playing your best tennis right at the beginning of the tournament.

“I think that’s something that, over the years, I’ve got better at understanding. I would get very frustrated in matches if I wasn’t playing great right at the beginning.

“I didn’t start the match great. But I actually calmed down more as the match went on and fought my way out of a little bit of a tricky situation in the first set. So I’m happy I can still improve. It’s all about just winning.”

Murray is likely to need to raise his game today if he is to progress to the third round, with big-hitting Dutchman Robin Haase definitely a potential banana skin. Haase won their only previous match, in Rotterdam in 2008, and is currently in the best form of his career after winning his first ATP World Tour event in Kitzbuhel earlier this month.

Andy Roddick, seeded 21st, was given a scare by fellow American Michael Russell before coming through 6-2 6-4 4-6 7-5.

Venus Williams yesterday revealed she has the auto-immune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome. The seven-times grand slam champion made the shock announcement after withdrawing on Wednesday prior to her second-round match against Sabine Lisicki.

The most common symptoms of the rheumatic condition are dry eyes and mouth but it can also cause joint pain and fatigue.

Questions were immediately raised about the 31-year-old’s future in the game but she is confident she will be able to return.

Williams said: “The good news for me is now I know what’s happening after spending years not knowing.

“Now that I know I have the chance to get better I feel like now I can move on.”