Nadal Through To 3rd Round At US Open
NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Nadal won the points that mattered most as he beat Denis Istomin in straight sets on Friday and advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open.
Nadal saved all seven break points against him and went on to win 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Eight-time major champion Nadal is seeking to complete a career Grand Slam, and he reached the third round at Flushing Meadows for the sixth consecutive year. But he's never been past the semifinals, where he lost in 2008 and 2009.
"I don't want to talk about (winning a title) here now," Nadal said, "because I am five matches away. Is a lot."
Nadal's night-time win followed the theme of the day as the top-ranked men all won in straight sets.
Andy Murray beat Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, while Spanish pair Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer also cruised through in straight sets.
Indeed all but one of the 12 seeded men in action Friday won through to round three.
The women's draw was almost as predictable, with defending champion Kim Clijsters, former winner Venus Williams, Sam Stosur and Francesca Schiavone all straight sets winners, along with ex-No.1 Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva.
Nadal's win was down not only to his performance in break points — he hasn't lost one in this tournament — but a marginally lower rate of errors than Istomin, most notably in his improved serve.
"I'm working on my serve all my life. Sometimes, (it) works well. Other times, not working that well," said Nadal, who has changed his service grip. "A few days ago, I started to feel very well with my serve. First two matches, I've served very well. Didn't lose a serve, and that does good for the confidence."
The 39th-ranked Istomin took a 5-1 lead in the second-set tiebreaker with the shot of the evening: he charged from behind the baseline to reach a drop shot and, leaving a 10-foot skid mark in his wake on the blue court, slid into the splits while stretching for a backhand winner.
That was pretty much that for Istomin, who lost the next six points, the set, and any momentum he appeared to gain.
"I was a little bit lucky in the tiebreak of the second set," Nadal said.
If Nadal can add a U.S. Open trophy to his collection, he will become the seventh man with at least one title from each Grand Slam tournament.
Next up is a third-round match against former top-10 player Gilles Simon of France, who eliminated 29th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 — the only defeat of a men's seed.
Nadal is one of seven Spanish men who won matches Friday, giving the country a tournament-high nine representatives in the third round.
The fourth-seeded Murray is seeking to make his second U.S. Open final in three years. He won this year's U.S. Open Series title for lead-up events, which means he could earn up to an extra $1 million in prize money if he wins the tournament.
The dreadlocked Brown pushed him to 5-5 in the first set of the match Friday, but Murray won 14 of the next 17 games. The entire match lasted 1 hour, 25 minutes and the third set went just 18 minutes.
Verdasco had an even easier time, breezing past Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Compatriot Ferrer was also relatively untroubled in beating Benjamin Becker of Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Mikhail Youzhny won to set up a third-round clash with John Isner, who progressed along with another big-serving American Sam Querrey to raise hopes of a local challenger after the early elimination of Andy Roddick.
Querrey as a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Marcel Granollers of Spain.
There were no upsets in women's third-round play, other than, perhaps, the fact that Kim Clijsters lost the first three games of her match before coming back to defeat No. 27 Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0.
Williams easily eliminated 185th-ranked qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1 to reach the U.S. Open's fourth round for the 12th time in 12 trips to the tournament.
She is the only woman this season to reach at least the fourth round at all four Grand Slam tournaments. Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki can match that when she plays her third-round U.S. Open match Saturday.
Stosur beat Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3 while the highlight was Schiavone's back-to-the-net, between-the-legs shot in her 6-1, 7-5 victory over Alona Bondarenko — nearly identical to what Roger Federer has done each of the past two years at the U.S. Open.
"I'd like to see it again," Schiavone said. "I'm curious."
Ivanovic had a 7-5, 6-0 win over Virginie Razzano while Dementieva won 7-5, 6-2 against No.24 Daniela Hantuchova — the highest-seeded player in either singles draw to lose Friday.
There was a rain delay of less than half an hour when the outer edges of Hurricane Earl made a passing appearance. But otherwise, play carried on under gray clouds and temperatures that refreshingly stayed below 30 degrees.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
