Men’s world No. 1 Rafael Nadal wasted no time booking his place in the third round, steamrolling Ryler DeHeart while women’s top seed Ana Ivanovic became the biggest casualty of the US Open.
French qualifier Julie Coin scored one of the most shocking upsets in Grand Slam history on Thursday, sending world No. 1 Ivanovic crashing out in the second round.
The 25-year-old Coin clinched the 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win on her third match point in the one hour, 57 minute match at the main Arthur Ashe Stadium.
PHOTO: EPA
Ivanovic posted a total of eight double faults and made 37 unforced errors to 26 for Coin.
“This is very disappointing to me but something I have to accept,” Ivanovic said. “I never saw her [Coin] play before.”
“She played a lot better than I expected. She served very well,” the Serb said.
Nadal ripped returns on serves, laced passing shots, and crafted crisp volleys in a dynamic performance to beat DeHeart 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.
Top seed Nadal plays Viktor Troicki of Serbia next.
“He is a good player. I am going to have to play better to beat him,” Nadal said.
Serena and Venus Williams rolled over their opponents on Thursday with Serena defeating Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-1, 6-1 and Venus brushing aside 113th ranked Rossana De Los Rios 6-0, 6-3.
Serena needed just 58 minutes to dispatch Vesnina.
Asked if she would have preferred a more competitive match, Serena said she likes to get them over quick.
“Not too many long rallies but I am serving well,” the fourth seeded Serena said.
Venus moved through to the third round where she will play Alona Bondarenko.
Serena next faces Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama.
“She’s pretty much relentless,” said Serena of Sugiyama. “I better be ready. That girl is a tough cookie.”
Sugiyama beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Kei Nishikori of Japan advanced to the third round of the men’s tournament when Roko Karanusic of Croatia retired at the end of the second set with the Japanese teen leading 6-1, 7-5.
In other matches on Thursday David Nalbandian of Argentina won in straight sets, beating Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, beat American Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Home-town favorite James Blake also went through when his Belgian opponent Steve Darcis was forced to retire with a back injury when the match was even a set-all
No. 4 seed David Ferrer and No. 6 Andy Murray both won through in tight fourth-set tiebreaks.
Spaniard Ferrer beat Germany’s Andreas Beck 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5) while Briton Murray got past France’s Michael Llodra 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
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