Flushing Meadows, NY – Rafael Nadal and five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer were both easy second-round winners Thursday in the final Grand Slam event of the season.
Nadal, playing at Arthur Ashe Stadium under the lights, breezed past Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.
The former world No. 1 and reigning French Open champion Nadal owns 12 Grand Slam singles titles, including the 2010 U.S. Open. He was also a runner- up here in 2011.
Nadal is 17-0 on hardcourts this year, including recent back-to-back ATP Masters titles in Montreal and Cincinnati.
"I am trying to play more aggressive," Nadal said of his play on hardcourts. "That's something that we're trying to improve throughout my career."
The seventh-seeded former world No. 1 Federer blew past Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in a comfortable 1 hour, 35 minutes at Ashe Stadium on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Swiss icon tallied six aces and broke Berlocq seven times en route to the third round.
After the match, Federer addressed the breezy conditions.
"I hit the ball better today than I hit it I thought in the first round, but then again, I had different opponents," he said. "Today my opponent was spinning the ball more, so playing with more height over the net whereas my first round opponent (Grega Zemlja), he was hitting it flat and hard on each shot. So we had very little rhythm. Maybe it calmed down, but I didn't think it was crazy windy today."
The 17-time Grand Slam titlist Federer was the tennis king of New York from 2004-08 and runner-up in 2009.
Fourth-seeded French Open runner-up David Ferrer moved on by holding off fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2. The gritty Ferrer was a U.S. Open semifinalist last year and in 2007.
Meanwhile, nifty eighth seed Richard Gasquet handled fellow Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 on Day 4. The capable Gasquet has only ever reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal, when he landed in a semifinal at Wimbledon six years ago.
Canadian Milos Raonic, the 10th seed, topped Spaniard Pablo Andujar, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
One high-profile American won on Thursday, while another was sent packing. John Isner, the No. 13 seed, held off France's Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), in a match that lasted until close to midnight.
"I'm so ecstatic to be in the third round," Isner said. "I knew playing against Gael it was going to be a very close match, it always is. He's a class act."
Isner will next take on No. 22 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. It will be a rematch of a third-round encounter last year here, won by Kohlschreiber in five sets.
American Sam Querrey, the No. 26 seed, lost to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
In other action involving seeds, No. 18 Serb Janko Tipsarevic drilled Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 Spain's Tommy Robredo, the 19th seed, turned back Canadian Frank Dancevic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; Kohlschreiber beat Edouard Roger- Vasselin, 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; 23rd seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain upended American Bradley Klahn, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-5. No. 32 Russian Dmitry Tursunov topped France's Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (7-4), 1-1, retired. Rufin hurt his hamstring.
Also, big-hitting American Jack Sock got past Argentine Maximo Gonzalez 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, Brit Daniel Evans dismissed disappointing Aussie Bernard Tomic 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin beat Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Kukushkin will meet Ferrer in the round of 32.
In another match, Croatia's Ivan Dodig ousted Russian Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
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