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Former champion Andy Roddick withstood a barrage of winners from young Ernests Gulbis before fighting back for a 3-6 7-5 6-2 7-5 second-round victory.

Gulbis was near perfect in the opening set, booming in his first serves and ripping winners from all angles as he roared through the first set after breaking the American's serve in the second game and then served for the second set at 5-4.

The Latvian landed 64 percent of his first serves in the opening set, good for six of his 19 aces in the match.

Roddick, however, turned the tide in the 10th game, setting up break point with a dazzling, running forehand passing shot he curled just inside the line. A forehand long from Gulbis gave Roddick his first service break of the slugfest.

Eighth seed Roddick won the next five games to win the second set and race to a 3-0 lead on his way to claiming the third as Gulbis struggled with his serve and began missing with his powerful forehand.

The tight fourth set swung on a lone service break in the last game when 40th-ranked Gulbis crushed a forehand long on Roddick's second match point.

In the end, Roddick proved steadier in the captivating slugfest. Gulbis smacked 79 winners to 42 for the American, but the Latvian registered 60 unforced errors, nearly triple Roddick's 21.

Both players celebrated birthdays as the clock struck midnight in a match that started late due to earlier rain delays at Flushing Meadows. Roddick turned 26 and 40th-ranked Gulbis left his teen-age years behind by marking his 20th birthday.

"He was definitely outplaying me for the first two sets," 2003 champion Roddick said courtside.

"I felt like a little kid out here playing against him. Then the clock struck 12 and I started playing like a 26 year old," said Roddick, who smashed his racket in a fit of pique after Gulbis broke his serve to lead 4-3 in the second set.

Gulbis was disappointed to lose, but knew he had put on a good show on the big stage of Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

"I was really pumped up for playing the night session," he said. "It's a pretty amazing feeling to go in (front) of such a crowd in New York."

Gulbis reached the round of 16 in his Open debut last year and advanced to the French Open quarter-finals this season before losing to world number three Novak Djokovic.

Against Roddick, the Latvian was nearly flawless with his volleys, winning 25 of 33 points at the net.

"That's a surprise," Gulbis said. "That's one point of my game I'm really working on."

Roddick said he knew he had to hang tough and wait for Gulbis to begin to miss.

"I guess one thing that no one will dispute is that I leave it out there all the time," he said. "If I lose it's not for lack of effort.

"When he's hitting his shots, there's nothing you can do. He literally just cracks the ball. Somehow I got the momentum going my way."

Roddick, the 2003 champion, advanced to a third-round match against 31st seed Andreas Seppi of Italy.

Follow all the action from Flushing Meados on Eurosport-Yahoo! and on British Eurosport

Reuters