Friday, September 2, 2011

Djokovic in demolition mode; Federer sweeps Sela aside

   Novak Djokovic was in sensational form at Flushing Meadows on Thursday evening.

(CNN) -- World number one Novak Djokovic dropped just two games on his way to the third round of the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows on Thursday evening.

The Serb, who has lost only twice in 2011, annihilated Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I played good tennis. Obviously I wanted to win but on the other hand we all try to engage the crowd. I think the crowd got engaged in the third set. It was a lot of entertainment," Djokovic said afterwards, AFP reported.

Earlier in the day, Roger Federer went past Andre Agassi in the grand slam record books as he beat Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3 6-2 6-2.

It was the Swiss maestro's 225th singles win in the four major tournaments in tennis, overtaking Agassi for second on the all-time list.

Agassi is the last over-30 to win a grand slam back in 2003, a feat Federer will be hoping to achieve by Sunday fortnight.

Only Jimmy Connors with 233 victories is now ahead of Federer, who is bidding for a sixth U.S. Open crown.

Federer looked below his best in his first round match against Santiago Giraldo, but put that right against Sela, who lacked the power to match him.

The third seed dropped only seven points on service on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court and in the heat of the day seemed happier than his first match in a night session when he had complained about the slowness of the courts.

A single break gave him the first set and two breaks apiece in the following two sets saw him close out the match in impressive style.

His third round opponent will be 27th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who brushed aside the exciting young Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets, for the loss of just three games later in the afternoon.

The first shock of Thursday came on Louis Armstrong where Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero came from two sets to one down to beat seventh seed Gael Monfils of France 7-6 5-7 6-7 6-4 6-4 in a near four-hour marathon match.

But 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who shocked Federer at Wimbledon, continued his impressive march with a 6-3 7-5 6-2 win over Ukraine's Sergei Bubka.

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