Federer, Jankovic, Sharapova, Djokovic All Progress At US Open

Five-time champion Roger Federer breezed into the third round at the US Open on Thursday (September 2nd), serving 15 aces in beating 104th-ranked Andreas Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. 

The top seed in the women's draw, Caroline Wozniacki, also powered her way into the third round, handing out a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash to Taiwan's Chang Kai-Chen. But Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic needed three sets to oust Mirjana Lucic of Croatia for her second three-set victory in a row. 

Three-time Major winner Maria Sharapova of Russia and Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic emerged victorious in the late matches, after taking comfortable wins over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic and 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany respectively.

Andreas Beck double-faulted 11 times on Thursday, while Federer served 15 aces with no double faults.  Federer has won 42 of his past 43 matches at Flushing Meadows, the only defeat coming in last year's final. 

With Andy Roddick's exit in the second round, and Lleyton Hewitt's loss in the first, Federer is the only previous winner of the event left in the men's field. 

Federer is trying to become the first man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to win this tournament six times.  Beck has lost in the second round in New York the last four years. He has yet to reach the third round at the Open.  Elsewhere in the men's draw, Mardy Fish of the USA continued his impressive form to power into the third round. 

Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas served for the opening set at 5-4 before Fish stormed back to win 15 of the next 17 games to complete a 7-5 6-0 6-2 victory. 

 The top seed in the women's event, Caroline Wozniack, wasted no time in reaching the last 32, hammering Chang Kai-chen of Chinese Taipei 6-0 6-0 in 47 minutes. 

It was an impressive performance by the 20-year-old Dane, a surprise finalist here last year who, in the space of the last 12 months, has established herself among the elite in the sport.  She needed just 47 minutes to record her 11th successive win, which includes back-to-back titles in Montreal and New Haven, her third and fourth of the year, the most of any woman. 

Wozniacki, who lost to Kim Clijsters in last year's final, has dropped just two games in her first two matches.  It was a bit tougher for fourth-seeded Serb, Jelena Jankovic, who sneaked past Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Jankovic needed just over two hours to hold off the plucky Lucic.  Their error-strewn encounter featured 19 double faults and 16 service breaks, including nine by the winner. 

Earlier, Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva moved safely into the third round with victory over Germany's Sabine Lisicki.  Russia's Zvonareva cruised through the opening set but had to come back from a break down in the second to secure a 6-1 7-6 (7/5) victory after Lisicki served for the set at 5-4. 

Another Russian, the former champion here, Svetlana Kuznetsova, also eased through with a routine 6-2 6-3 win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova. 

14th-seed Maria Sharapova faced little in the way of opposition in her second round match against 68th-ranked Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic under the lights of the Arthur Ashe stadium. 

The Russian three-time major champion earned her place in the next round with a well deserved 6-1, 6-2 win and will now face Beatrice Capra, an 18-year-old American, who earlier caused a notable upset after ousting No. 18-seed Aravane Rezai of France.

Sharapova was followed onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium by 2008 Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, who went head-to head with 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany. 

 Djokovic has made it to the minimum of the semi finals in New York each of the past three years - and has lost to Federer each time.  Despite the match going to a tie break in the third set Djokovic's superior experience on the big stage helped him to cement a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win and allowed him to progress. 

 James Blake, a wild-card entry, will take on world number three Djokovic in the third round. 

 Results Thursday at the U.S. Open: (seedings in parentheses): 

 Singles Men Second Round

Albert Montanes (21), Spain, def. Carsten Ball, Australia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

Mardy Fish (19), United States, def. Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.

Arnaud Clement, France, def. Eduardo Schwank, Argentina, 6-3, 5-5, retired.

Richard Gasquet, France, def. Nikolay Davydenko (6), Russia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, def. Andreas Beck, Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Kei Nishikori, Japan, def. Marin Cilic (11), Croatia, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Paul-Henri Mathieu, France, def. Guillaume Rufin, France, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-3.

Robin Soderling (5), Sweden, def. Taylor Dent, United States, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Thiemo de Bakker, Netherlands, def. Ivan Dodig, Croatia, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3, 3-2, retired.

Jurgen Melzer (13), Austria, def. Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

James Blake, United States, def. Peter Polansky, Canada, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Juan Carlos Ferrero (22), Spain, def. Ricardo Mello, Brazil, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Kevin Anderson, South Africa, def. Thomaz Bellucci (26), Brazil, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, def. Philipp Petzschner, Germany, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

 Women Second Round

Patty Schnyder, Switzerland, def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (22), Spain,7-6 (2), 6-4.

Chan Yung-jan, Taiwan, def. Tamira Paszek, Austria, 6-3, 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer (15), Belgium, def. Julia Goerges, Germany, 6-4, 7-5.

 Vera Zvonareva (7), Russia, def. Sabine Lisicki, Germany, 6-1, 7-6 (5).

Beatrice Capra, United States, def. Aravane Rezai (18), France, 7-5, 2-6,6-3.

 Caroline Wozniacki (1), Denmark, def. Chang Kai-chen, Taiwan, 6-0, 6-0.

 Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, def. Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-2, 5-7,7-6 (7).

 Svetlana Kuznetsova (11), Russia, def. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia, 6-2,6-3.

 Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain, def. Urszula Radwanska, Poland, 6-2, 7-5.

 Jelena Jankovic (4), Serbia, def. Mirjana Lucic, Croatia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Maria Kirilenko (23), Russia, def. Yvonne Meusburger, Austria, 4-6, 7-5,6-0.

 Alexandra Dulgheru (25), Romania, def. Sofia Arvidsson, Sweden, 7-6 (5),6-1.

Kaia Kanepi (31), Estonia, def. Akgul Amanmuradova, Uzbekistan, 6-2, 6-4.

Andrea Petkovic, Germany, def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, 3-6,6-3, 7-5.

Maria Sharapova (14), Russia, def. Iveta Benesova, Czech Republic, 6-1,6-2.

Peng Shuai, China, def. Agnieszka Radwanska (9), Poland, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.  AP