The top four ranked Americans — No. 8 Andy Roddick, No. 9 James Blake, No. 35 Mardy Fish and No. 53 Sam Querrey — have reached the third round of the Open, leaving behind six compatriots who lost in the second round.

Collectively, the 19 American men who started the tournament are 14-15 in the Open, a much better showing than any of the three previous Grand Slams, and a marked improvement over Wimbledon, where 12 players went a dismal 5-12 and only one, Bobby Reynolds, reached the third round.

Next in New York, close friends Blake and Fish will meet, and Roddick plays Italian Andreas Seppi and Querrey runs up against Ivo Karlovic, who at 6-feet, 10-inches has a four-inch height advantage over Querrey. If Blake and Roddick can win two more matches, they would reach the quarters where Blake would likely run into Nadal and Roddick Federer.

This would be an improvement over American men’s results in Grand Slams this year. Blake’s run to the quarters in Australia is the best success by an American man at the big four tournaments in 2008.

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