Flushing Meadows, NY – Top seed Novak Djokovic, five-time champion Roger Federer and rising American Mardy Fish advanced to the fourth round at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Djokovic, who is looking to become the sixth man to win three Grand Slam titles in the same year in the Open Era, blasted past Russian Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic improved to 60-2 this year, including major titles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He's a two-time U.S. Open runner- up, including last year against former No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
The third-seeded former world No. 1 Federer got past 27th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Swiss icon improved to 59-6 lifetime in Flushing Meadows.
Federer was locked in a tight battle with Cilic, after he dropped the second set and then found himself knotted at 4-4 in the third. But the Swiss stalwart broke the tall Croat for a 5-4 edge and then consolidated the break with a set-winning hold. He would cruise the rest of the way in a match that ended when Cilic netted a backhand return after 2 hours, 40 minutes of tennis.
Cilic tallied 44 unforced errors and had his serve broken five times by one of the all-time greats.
"I thought it was a tough match," Federer said. "Coming in I knew it was gonna be tricky, and I'm happy that I was able to counter his pace and his good play."
The 30-year-old Federer titled here five straight years from 2004-08 and was the 2009 runner-up to Juan Martin del Potro. He owns a men's record 16 Grand Slam titles and was this year's French Open runner-up to Rafael Nadal.
Federer has now reached the fourth round in New York 11 straight years.
The eighth-seeded Fish continued his fine summer with a tough 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) victory over 6-foot-8 South African slugger Kevin Anderson. The American swatted 12 aces and moved on in 3 hours, 20 minutes at Armstrong Stadium.
Fish recently titled in Atlanta and was a runner-up in Los Angeles and at an ATP Masters event in Montreal.
The 29-year-old Fish, who captured the U.S. Open Series heading up to the U.S. Open, could win $2.8 million if he can title here next week.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych came up a third-round loser on Day 6. Gritty Serb Janko Tipsarevic, seeded 20th, was leading the ninth-seeded Berdych 6-4, 5-0 when the big Czech due to a right shoulder injury.
Berdych, who reached the quarterfinals at this year's Australian Open, was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the former No. 1 Nadal.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 11th seed from France, dispatched No. 19 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Another former world No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, reached the round of 16 when his opponent retired on Saturday. The unseeded former U.S. Open runner-up Ferrero was leading 31st-seeded fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-1, 4-3 when Granollers quit.
The former French Open champion Ferrero, the 2003 U.S. Open runner-up to American Andy Roddick, will meet Tipsarevic in his next outing.
Alexandr Dolgopolov overcame 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the round of 16. The 22nd seed from Ukraine was a surprise Aussie Open quarterfinalist earlier this season. He'll meet Djokovic next.
Also Saturday, Argentina's Juan Monaco defeated Germany's Tommy Haas, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.