Second seed Roger Federer raced past Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in 77 minutes to reach the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. The five-time champion won 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on a hot afternoon in New York. The 34-year-old, bidding to become the oldest US Open champion in 45 years, will next play either Belgian Steve Darcis or Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.While women's second seed Simona Halep progressed when Marina Erakovic could not continue at 6-2, 3-0 down. The New Zealander was the latest in an unusually high number of retirements over the first two days. After seven withdrawals on Monday – the highest number at a Grand Slam for nine years-Erakovic, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Ernests Gulbis and Aleksandr Nedovyesov took the tally to 11 on Tuesday.