Sat Aug 30 15:13:43 2008

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Nadal stays hot, reaches fourth round in Flushing

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Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - High-flying Spaniard Rafael Nadal was an easy third-round winner Saturday at the 2008 U.S. Open.

The recently-crowned world No. 1 star drilled Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 on Day 6 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Nadal moved on in 1 hour, 55 minutes with the help of six service breaks, compared to only one for the loser from Serbia.

Nadal has now won his last 17 Grand Slam matches, including titles at Wimbledon and the French Open, where he beat former top-ranked star Roger Federer in both finals. The super southpaw also secured an Olympic gold medal in Beijing earlier this month.

The 22-year-old Nadal has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals (2006) in New York. He's trying to become only the fourth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win three straight major events. Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer (twice) are the only ones to do it so far.

Up next for Nadal will be unseeded big-serving American Sam Querrey, who reached the fourth round by upsetting 14th-seeded 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. The 6-foot-6 Querrey upset 22nd-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in his opening-round match this week.

Querrey and Karlovic combined for 44 aces, including 24 for the loser. The American committed a mere 13 unforced errors and held his serve throughout the big-hitting bout.