Wawrinka reaches U.S. Open third round
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Flushing Meadows, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Stan Wawrinka was a second-round winner on a hot Wednesday at the 2014 U.S. Open.
Wawrinka, the No. 3 seed, defeated Brazilian left-hander Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1) at Ashe Stadium.
The 29-year-old Wawrinka, this year's Australian Open champion, is through to the third round here for the fourth time in the past five years.
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Up next for Wawrinka, who is from Switzerland, is Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia, who eliminated 30th-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
Sixth seed Tomas Berdych was an easy opening-round winner. The big Czech and former Wimbledon runner-up blitzed 2001 U.S. Open champion and 2004 finalist Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The fading 33-year-old Hewitt is also a former world No. 1.
Up next for Berdych will be Slovak Martin Klizan.
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Grigor Dimitrov, the No. 7 seed, beat American Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. It was Dimitrov's first win at the U.S. Open after three consecutive first-round exits dating back to 2011.
Eleventh seed Ernests Gulbis cruised past Frenchman Kenny De Schepper 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a second-round match with Dominic Thiem of Austria, who took down Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Portugal's Joao Sousa outlasted Canada's Frank Dancevic 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2).
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Meanwhile, 14th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic was leading former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-1 when the Cypriot retired; 18th-seeded South African slugger Kevin Anderson outlasted Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) in just over four hours; and 19th-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez was tied with Ivan Dodig 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 1-1 when the hobbled Croat quit in the fifth set in round one.
A mild first-round upset came Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili topped 27th-seeded Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
American Steve Johnson had to retire from his first-round match against Tatsuma Ito of Japan because of severe cramping. Ito won by a 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 4-1 score.
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Meanwhile, David Goffin of Belgium beat fellow countryman Niels Desein 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 and Dudi Sela rallied past Carlos Berlocq 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Also reaching the second round was 6-foot-8 Pole Jerzy Janowicz, a runner-up last week in Winston-Salem.