Flushing Meadows, NY – Second-seeded Rafael Nadal easily earned a berth into the fourth round of the U.S. Open with a straight-set victory to highlight Saturday's men's action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Nadal, the 2010 champion at Flushing Meadows, extended his current win streak on hardcourts to 18 straight matches after disposing of Ivan Dodig by a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 count.
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer faced more of a challenge in his third-round bout against Mikhail Kukushkin, but the 2012 U.S. Open semifinalist prevailed via a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 decision over the Kazakhstan native.
Ferrer now awaits 18th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, who also advanced with a four- set verdict on Saturday. The talented Serb overcame a slow start to upend American Jack Sock by a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, 6-2 score.
The top ranked American will not make it to the second week, as 13th-seeded John Isner fell to 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Kohlschreiber, who will face Nadal next, also upended Isner in the third round of last year's tournament.
Milos Raonic moved on to the fourth round as well, with the 10th-seeded Canadian downing No. 23 seed Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Also, eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France was ahead of his third-round opponent, No. 32 Dmitry Tursunov, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 4-2, before the Russian retired in the fourth set.
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