Tomic then retired after the first three games of the third set, trailing, 1-2.
Another time, a man got shot yards away, staggered onto the set trailing blood, and was treated by the show's medic.
At that moment, a group of Chinese tourists wandered through the impromptu set, trailing a woman with a microphone clipped to her collar: "Ladies and gentlemen, this way".
When Nadal withdrew in the third set, trailing by 3-6, 6-7 (2), 0-3, a changing of the guard perhaps was in motion.
The Russian had looked dead on his feet early in the fourth set, trailing 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0 against the German seventh seed, and he needed treatment for fatigue in the blistering heat.
In the third set, trailing by 0-3, Nadal sat forlornly on his chair during a changeover, his chin resting on his hands and his eyes welling with tears: quite a different image from that of the energetic optimist whose face rarely betrays the scoreline.
The world No1 is through to the US Open semi-finals for a 10th consecutive year after Tsonga retired with an apparent knee injury one point into the third set trailing 6-3, 6-2, 0-15, marking Djokovic's third passage by default in four matches since a first-round win over Jerzy Janowicz.
He would eventually become president of the company and under his stewardship Transvision became the nation's third leading manufacturer of TV sets, trailing only Zenith and RCA.
Fifth set: Agassi trails Philippoussis 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 4-5 Agassi wins his service game at a canter.
