Center Court on Wednesday became a revolving stage for the biggest performers, the tennis equivalent of a daylong concert featuring Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Chesney and Prince -- with Bono practicing in the wings. One after another, the top four men's players in the world -- No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 2 Andy Murray and No. 3 Rafael Nadal -- took center stage at the Lindner Family Tennis Center for second-round matches at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. While waiting for Nadal's match to start, many fans gravitated to practice court No. 5 to watch fifth-ranked Andy Roddick prepare for his night match against another American, Sam Querrey. 'I mean, how much fun is that?' said Marty Osswald, who left her front-row seat during the nine-hour shot-making marathon only to buy more water to try to stay hydrated. Even at $3.50 per bottle, it was the best surplus package in sports. For $34, the cost of a ticket to the day session, a fan could see Djokovic scold his racket after a bad shot during his win against Ivan Ljubicic; the balletic Federer pirouette out of a couple of tight spots in a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Jose Acasuso; and the 22-year-old Murray sign autographs after his straight-sets win against Nicolas Almagro for fans draped over the railing like bunting and screaming: 'Mr. Murray! Mr. Murray!' Or watch Nadal join the others in the third round by beating Andreas Seppi before Roddick was eliminated by Querrey. Federer, whose victory this year at Wimbledon gave him the most men's Grand Slam singles titles, shared in the fans' enthusiasm. 'That's the sort of thing I would love if I were a tennis fan,' he said, adding: 'Just keep the same seat, you know. They come rolling in.' Two rain delays could not dampen the day. The royal flush that Bruce Flory, the tournament director, laid down on Wednesday was worth waiting out the weather to see. Three of the five players have been No. 1, and only Murray has not won a Grand Slam title. Considering each is a drawing card, it seemed a strange way for Flory to play his hand. And indeed, during an interview in his office on the tournament grounds, Flory acknowledged it was not his original strategy. He may hold all the cards, but the players and their representatives have all the chips. 'They're not shy about complaining if they don't like it,' Flory said. He added: 'As one of the players' services persons told me, the players care zero -- zero -- about what's best for the tournament. They just don't care.' Flory had hoped to have Federer or Nadal anchor Tuesday night's bill. Each had lost in the quarterfinals at last week's ATP World Tour stop in Montreal, so they were the most rested of the marquee players. There was only one problem. 'Neither of them wanted to play on Tuesday,' Flory said. His Plan B was to showcase Djokovic, a finalist here last year, on Tuesday night. But his opponent, Ljubicic, a former top-five player who has turned into a qualifier, had played three matches in three days and requested a day off to rest his tired arm. 'On a fairness level, he does deserve that,' Flory said. Roddick, the 2006 champion, lost in the semifinals in Montreal, but this is his third consecutive tournament. His wish was to have a three-day breather before returning to competition. Murray won Sunday's final, so his desire not to play before Wednesday was entirely reasonable. And so what Flory ended up with was, in his words, a ''We are the World' thing,' a reference to the 1985 gathering of pop icons to record an album to benefit African famine relief. Among those enjoying the feast of forehands and Federer footwork were two tennis enthusiasts from New York. Bob Buxbaum and his son, Matt, who owns the Staten Island Community Tennis Center, traveled here on Monday. They bought tickets for three daytime sessions in the hopes of seeing all the top players in action in that time, never dreaming all they would need were Wednesday's tickets. 'Unbelievable,' Matt said. He compared it to the second Saturday of the 1990 U.S. Open, when he watched Andre Agassi beat Boris Becker, Gabriela Sabatini beat Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras beat John McEnroe. 'That was a great tennis day,' he said, 'but this might have even been better.' 