New York,Sept 2: Top seed Roger Federer dropped his first set of the tournament before rebounding in style to tame towering American wildcard John Isner 6-7 6-2 6-4 6-2 in the third round of the US Open today.

The three-times defending champion was edged out in a tiebreak in the first set but then roared back to clinch victory in two hours 15 minutes and reach the last 16.

''It's so hard to play against players like him, you just hope he's not going to keep serving aces,'' Federer told the crowd.

''It was unbelievable how he served in the first set but I started to get a read of it a bit in the second and third sets especially.'' Isner, 22, playing in his first US Open and his fifth Tour event, held his own with the world number one in the first set and sent the crowd wild when he snatched the tiebreak 7-4.

But Federer stepped up a gear in the second and third sets, losing just five points on serve in the process, and then eased through the fourth to set up a clash with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

Isner said it had been a pleasure to play the top seed.

''When I looked at the draw, saw that if I won a couple of matches I was going to play this guy,'' he said.

''I won a couple of matches and got to play him on Arthur Ashe, and it was such an honour.''

Reuters
>