NEW YORK, Sept 3, (AFP): Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic rolled into the US Open’s third round on Thursday while sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko lost and Japan’s Kei Nishikori dumped 11th seed Marin Cilic in a five-hour battle.
Swiss second seed Federer, seeking his 17th Grand Slam crown and a seventh consecutive trip to the US Open final, eliminated Germany’s 104th-ranked Andreas Beck 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Federer jumped ahead 5-0 in only 12 minutes, claimed the first set in 27 minutes and was seldom threatened.
“It’s the perfect start,” Federer said. “I played Monday, had two days off, I had another easy one physically and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament.”
Federer, a five-time US Open champion, will face 109th-ranked Paul-Henri Mathieu to decide a berth in the last 16 on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
“Body is well. Mentally obviously I’m fresh, too. I haven’t played too much, so I’m really eager,” Federer said. “I’m ready for tough matches coming around. It’s good I’m saving myself, really, and my game is fine.”
Serbian third seed Djokovic advanced 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) over German Philipp Petzschner, saying, “I was shakey the whole match but I was able to hold on.” Djokovic will face American James Blake for a berth in the round of 16.
Djokovic reached the 2007 US Open final and the Flushing Meadows semi-finals the past two years, each time losing to Federer, whom he could again face in the semi-finals.
Asked if could duplicate Federer’s now-infamous between-the-legs shot from a Monday victory and last year’s semi-final triumph over Djokovic, the Serbian drew a laugh from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
“No, I have something else between my legs. But don’t worry, I will not show it to you tonight,” Djokovic said.
“Definitely it’s not one of my better shots. I think Roger is better at that.”
Russian Davydenko, a 2006 and 2007 US Open semifinal loser to Federer, fell 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to 38th-ranked Richard Gasquet. He next faces South African Kevin Anderson, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) winner over Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci.
Gasquet, among a record 12 Frenchmen to reach the second round, lost only seven of 52 points on his first serve as Davydenko made his quickest US Open exit since 2005.
Davydenko joined a US Open seeded scrap heap that includes No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, US ninth seed Andy Roddick and Croatia’s Cilic, who dropped the longest match of the week just 60 seconds shy of five hours.
“It was very humid. It wasn’t easy to get oxygen,” Cilic said. “I started to feel cramps in the end of the fourth set. But with that, I was all right toward the end of the match. It was just the general tiredness and exhaustion.”
Nishikori, ranked 147th, fought off cramping in the hottest day of a scorching week to defeat Australian Open semi-finalist Cilic 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 in an exhausting five-hour duel.
“I was cramping from the second set but I kept fighting and fighting and got the fourth set tie-breaker. That was key for me,” Nishikori said.
“It was hot but I feel good now.”
Nishikori, whose run to the US Open fourth round in 2008 was his best Slam showing and the best here by a Japanese man since 1937, next faces Spanish 21st seed Albert Montanes, who beat Australian Carsten Ball 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.
Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling reached the third round in straight sets as well, dumping American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
“I’m pretty confident. I know I can do well when I play well,” Soderling said. “But you need to play well. No one can play well every match. So anything can happen. I can lose first round. I can go on really deep as well.”
US 19th seed Mardy Fish, who won two titles in July and was runner-up at Cincinnati last month, eliminated Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.
Next in Fish’s path is France’s Arnaud Clement, who led 6-3, 5-5 when Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank retired with an ankle injury.
Fish said he feels like he can crack the world top-10 next year and is confident he could win a possible fourth-round match against Djokovic.
In the women’s event, Maria Sharapova gave further indications that she is close to being back to her best after an injury-blighted 2009 as she stormed into the third round.
The 23-year-old Russian glamour girl powered past Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2, sending out a warning that she is capable of winning for a second time at Flushing Meadows, four years after her first title.
“Last year here, the position I was in, I was trying to see where my game was, so it’s nice to be back on the court and not having to worry about anything other than trying to win,” she said.
The win sets her up nicely for a possible showdown with top seed and runner-up here last year, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, in the fourth round.
First though, she must overcome 18-year-old American wildcard Beatrice Capra in Saturday’s third round.
Wozniaci powered her way into the third round by handing out a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing to Taiwan’s Chang Kai-Chen.
It was an impressive performance by the 20-year-old Dane, a surprise finalist here last year who, in the space of the last 12 months, has established herself among the elite in the sport.
She needed just 47 minutes to record her 11th straight win, which includes back-to-back titles in Montreal and New Haven, her third and fourth of the year, the most of any woman.
In two matches at Flushing Meadows, she has lost just two games.
“I go out there and I don’t give up. I don’t give any free points away and that is one of my strong points,” said Wozniacki of her merciless display against Chang.
“I am feeling fresh, all recovered (from an ankle injury), from everything. I am happy to be playing injury-free. It’s perfect.”
Wozniacki will play another Taiwanese player, Chan Yung-Jan, for a place in the fourth round and a possible match against Sharapova.
Chan advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 17 attempts when she defeated Austria’s Tamira Paszek 6-3, 6-3.
The previous best for the 21-year-old from Taipei had been second-round appearances at the Australian Open in 2009, at Wimbledon this year and here in 2008.
She was in command from the start against Paszek, once touted as a budding star of tennis, but who has struggled with injuries over the last two years.
“I was not 100 percent in my first match and was missing the easy ball,” Chan said. “But that was better today and I am looking to play even better from now on in.”
The prospect of playing the top seed Wozniacki was not awesome, she said, as they had known each since they were juniors and had played several times.
“Also I love playing on the big courts,” she added.
Also through to the third round in early play Thursday was Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, who eased past Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), and semifinalist here last year Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, who beat Julia Gorges of Germany 6-4, 7-5.
Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder used her experience to outplay Spanish 22nd seed Maria Jose Martinez 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 and she will next play Wickmayer for a place in the fourth round.
Also through was 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who breezed past Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-2, 6-3 and fourth seed, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who edged past Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
There was an upset on the Grandstand Court though as the unheralded Capra ousted French 18th seed Aravane Rezai 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Capra is making her debut in a WTA Tour tournament, and was the youngest player remaining in the women’s draw and also the lowest-ranked at 371.
“A year ago I was playing the juniors here. I’ve been playing mostly the juniors tournaments the entire year and concentrating on that. I played a couple of pro circuit events and one okay, but its been mostly juniors,” she said.
Playing Sharapova she said would be “an amazing experience.”