Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, opening with five straight service aces, cruised to the third round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup with a 6-3, 6-0 win over wild-card entry Michael Joyce on Wednesday night.
Joyce, playing just his second ATP Tour match of the year, used a service break to even the first set at 3-3, before the Australian used his quickness to take control.
Hewitt ran well outside the court to chase down an angle volley and responded with a cross-court angle that left Joyce sprawled on the ground at one point.
Hewitt, who hadn't been happy with his serve in Tuesday's 6-0, 7-5 win over Cecil Mamiit, had 14 aces against Joyce.
Nicolas Kiefer, sidelined the first three months of this year with a heel injury, upset No. 3 seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day to advance to the third round.
Schalken has yet to win a set against Kiefer in losing all three of their career meetings. Kiefer evened his season record at 10-10 after not playing his first ATP Tour event until March.
"I started very late, so I'm a little bit fresher now," said Kiefer, a quarterfinalist last week in Indianapolis, where Schalken lost to Andy Roddick in the semifinals.
In the night's final match, No. 8 seed Vincent Spadea defeated Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
Kiefer converted two of three break chances in the hot and humid conditions in the afternoon. Schalken managed just one break.
"I was expecting a very hard fight," Kiefer said. "I played much better than the day before."
On Tuesday, the German defeated Nicolas Thomann, who beat him in last week's RCA Championships. Kiefer will play Spadea in the third round.
"Each win is important and gives me more confidence," he said. "My goal is to play good in New York."
The US Open begins Aug. 25.
Schalken reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last month. He tied the second set 4-4 and held a break point to go up 5-4, but committed two errors and Kiefer closed out the game with an ace.
Schalken was broken at love when Kiefer hit a winner down the line to close out the match.
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