Rafael Nadal has continued his progress in the US Open, reaching the fourth round with a 6-4 6-3 6-3 win over Ivan Dodig.
Both players were impressive on their own serves in the first set, but it was Nadal who found the crucial break in the third game. The rest of the set went with serve as Nadal won it 6-4.
It was more of the same in the second set, as the number two seed gave Dodig very few chances on his own serve. He picked up breaks in the third and ninth games of the set to take it 6-3.
Nadal had a little trouble in the opening game of the third set but saved a break point to ensure that he would not lose his serve once in the match, before going on to break Dodig in the fourth game to eventually win the set 6-3.
The straight-sets victory keeps Nadal on course to face Roger Federer later in the tournament, but first the Spaniard will have to get past either John Isner or Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round.
Barney Corkhill
