Feliciano Lopez swept aside 10th seed Milos Raonic with a straight-sets win to reach the fourth round of the US Open on Friday evening.
The Spanish veteran, 33, stunned his Canadian counterpart with a 6-2 7-6(4) 6-3 victory to set up a clash with Italy's Fabio Fognini or compatriot Rafael Nadal.
Having won three matches apiece in the head-to-head stakes, the seventh meeting was expected to be a tight affair at Flushing Meadows.
However, Lopez made a mockery of the pre-game predictions by inflicting two breaks of serve en route to a 5-2 lead in the opener, before closing out a first-set win.
The ease with which the world number 19 moved ahead in the match served to wake up Raonic, who ensured that the second set was a markedly tighter affair.
Nothing could separate the pair as a tie-break was needed to determine the winner, with Lopez wasting Raonic's hard work in regulation by easing to a 7-4 win.
From there, Lopez, who has only reached the fourth round on two occasions, sailed into the next phase courtesy of a break of serve in the sixth game as he bids to make it a case of third time lucky.
Shane Callaghan
