Richard Gasquet eases into round three

Richard Gasquet has progressed to the third round at the US Open with a comfortable 7-6 6-3 6-3 win over Paolo Lorenzi this evening.

The 12th seed put the Italian under pressure throughout the opening set, making him face nine break points before eventually taking the lead, only for Lorenzi to break back and send the set to a tie-break.

However, the Frenchman made a series of solid forehand winners during the breaker, wrapping it up 7-4.

Lorenzi's serve improved in the second set, but a few double faults gave Gasquet the chance to move ahead early on.

The Italian briefly got the set back on serve as he continued to improve, but was broken again in the next game before Gasquet served the set out.

The French player went up a level in the third, giving Lorenzi fewer chances on his serve while picking up points with his reliable groundstrokes to wrap up the match in a little over two hours.

Gasquet will face compatriot Gael Monfils in the third round.