Novak Djokovic needed all of 15 minutes to take the first five games against Sam Querrey as he steamrolled past the American to make it to the fourth round of the US Open for the eighth year in a row.
Djokovic’s routine 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory yesterday put him in the round of 16 at a 22nd consecutive Grand Slam tournament.
Joining him in the fourth round will be the 2012 champion Andy Murray, who needed four sets to beat Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
Top seed Djokovic had no trouble handling the big serves of Querrey, breaking the former top-20 player seven times in the 1-hour, 26-minute match.
Querrey recovered to win the next three games after being 0-5 down in the first, but it was not enough as Djokovic held serve in the ninth game to take the opening set.
A first-serve percentage of 80 in the second set helped the 2011 champion continue his dominance as the 27-year-old went 6-3 6-2 ahead in less than an hour.
“Sam is big server, very powerful. But he doesn’t move that well so I wanted to keep him moving around the court, mix up the pace and get as many returns as possible back,” said Djokovic.
Murray hit 47 winners in a 6-1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Kuznetsov, the world No96, to book a seventh appearance in the fourth round.
Murray, who had never played Kuznetsov before, said: “I got off to a good start, which obviously helped. I had a bit of a cushion when he started to get back into the match.
“He played some good stuff at the end of the second and all the way through the third. I’m happy I stayed solid. It was tough.
“I feel better than I did in the first match. Conditions are a little bit more pleasant. I made sure I ate properly and drank properly.”
Kuznetsov won the junior title at Wimbledon in 2009.
Also going through to the last-16 for a third successive year was Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic who beat Victor Estrella Burgos, the 34-year-old tournament debutant from the Dominican Republic, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3).
He will face Japanese 10th seed Kei Nishikori who reached the fourth round for the first time since 2008 with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.
Raonic downed Nishikori at Wimbledon en route to becoming the first Canadian man in the Open era to reach a Slam semi-final.
The 10th-seeded Nishikori, 24, is putting together a career best season, with two ATP titles that helped him become the first Japanese man to crack the top 10 in the rankings.
Back trouble forced him to retire against Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Masters, and a toe injury forced him to miss Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati prior to the Open.
But he has yet to drop a set and said his dented confidence is building with every victory.
“Now I’m very confident,” he said. “A little bit sore everywhere, but otherwise almost 100 per cent.”
