Top seed Novak Djokovic has continued his dominance of Jan-Lennard Struff with a 6-3 6-3 6-1 win to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.
Djokovic, a three-times champion at Flushing Meadows, was never really pushed by the German, who has taken just one set off the Serb in their five career meetings.
The only drama came early on when Struff had break point opportunities but could not convert against Djokovic’s serve in the first game.
The players stayed on serve until Struff sent a forehand wide on break point to give Djokovic a 5-3 lead.
The Serb held to love the next game after firing an unreturnable serve to take the first set and coasted the rest of the way.
“It was a very, very good performance from my side,” Djokovic said after recording his 600th career win on hard courts.
“I moved well and after the first set, the second and third was a really great feeling on the court,” Djokovic, chasing an 18th grand slam win, said.
Djokovic will be a heavy favourite when he faces 20th seed Pablo Carreno Busta on Spain in the fourth round.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev overcame a slow start to dispatch France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a match that was delayed by health officials for more than 2-1/2 hours.
The third-round clash was originally scheduled to start at 2.30 pm local time on Louis Armstrong Stadium but was pushed back while the United States Tennis Association conducted a “collaborative dialogue” with health officials.
Mannarino was placed under an “enhanced protocol plan” after coming in contact with fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire, who pulled out of the tournament having tested positive for COVID-19.
When the players finally arrived on court, Mannarino claimed the opening set in a tiebreak as an untidy Zverev posted 26 unforced errors.
But the German rediscovered his rhythm in the second set to find a way past Mannarino’s serve in the 10th game, unleashing a blistering forehand winner to get to one set apiece.
With momentum on his side, Zverev converted a further five break points opportunities to book a last-16 spot for the second consecutive year in New York.
Denis Shapovalov won the battle of North American young guns by grinding out a 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz to also advance to the fourth round.
The match played out exactly as one would expect from two of tennis’s rising talents with the Canadian Shapovalov and American Fritz engaged in a seesaw tussle.
Next up for Shapovalov is Belgium seventh seed David Goffin who was a 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 winner over Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic.