ESPN Tennis

NEW YORK -- Roger Federer extended his U.S. Open winning streak to 35 matches with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 victory over NCAA champion Devin Britton in the first round Monday.

The top-seeded Federer is trying to become the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win six consecutive titles at the American Grand Slam tournament. Win or lose, the paycheck guaranteed by the opening-round victory made him the first player in tennis history to reach $50 million in prize money.

"That's what I'm here for, trying to equal Bill Tilden's record. But I've never met Bill Tilden. Never saw him play. So it's hard to kind of relate to him in any way, except through records," Federer said. "It's fantastic to be sort of compared to someone who played such a long time ago, I guess."

Andy Roddick also won his first-round match in straight sets. The 2003 U.S. Open champion was forced to wait until after 11 p.m. Monday night to get on court in Arthur Ashe Stadium for the last match on the Day 1 schedule at Flushing Meadows before making quick work of 84th-ranked Bjorn Phau of Germany, beating him 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

They finished at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday.

"The later, the better," Roddick said on court afterward. "These are the hard-core fans."

The stands were less than half-full by the end. Those fans that stayed were loud, though, supporting the highest-seeded American.

"It's just unique. You play in all sorts of atmospheres. There's not as many people, but the ones that are there sure are vocal-slash-drunk," Roddick said.

"I guarantee half the people out there were probably here all day, too. They have to be pretty passionate and really enjoy what they're seeing and the whole experience of it," he added. "It's 1 in the morning. I guarantee you, they all have to work tomorrow. They certainly have to get up earlier than I do."

The USTA has said it is planning to have a men's match precede the women's for one or two night sessions during this U.S. Open.

Roddick was bleeding from his right ear during the match and got into a bit of a back-and-forth with the chair umpire over it.

Pounding serves at up to 145 mph, Roddick finished with 13 aces. He put 81 percent of his first serves in.

Roddick will next play 81st-ranked Marc Gicquel of France, who beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov.

Federer needed only 88 minutes to advance but was down a break in the second and third sets against Britton, an 18-year-old wild-card entry from Mississippi who was playing in his second career tour-level match -- and first at a major championship. He actually hit more winners than Federer, 32-31. But Britton also made more than twice as many unforced errors, 40-18.

"My goal was to not get crushed," Britton conceded, "and make it interesting for a little while."

He did, even breaking Federer's serve in the second and third sets, though he was unable to follow either by winning his own serve in the next game. With his coach from Ole Miss in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Britton lost three straight games at love after going up 3-1 in the second.

"I was thinking, 'I'm up a break. This is awesome,'" Britton said. "Then it only lasted about 30 seconds."

Meanwhile, American John Isner won his first Grand Slam tournament match in two years, upsetting 28th-seeded Victor Hanescu 6-1, 7-6 (14), 7-6 (5).

The 24-year-old Isner came into Monday's match ranked 55th in the world and outlasted Hanescu during a 30-point tiebreak in the second set to get his first Grand Slam tournament victory since a win over Rik De Voest two years ago at Flushing Meadows.

Isner has missed a good part of the year with mononucleosis.

"It might have been a blessing in disguise," Isner said. "I've felt fresh ever since I started playing in the States."

Another young American, Donald Young, fell 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain while No. 26 Paul-Henri Mathieu was the first seeded player to lose, beaten by Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.

No. 21 James Blake and French Open runner-up Robin Soderling won.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.