Fed, Fish stroll through

Federer: Regulation victory

You kind of look over in the changeover and see the guy has got the ice towel around his neck and he's probably not feeling that well. That's why you put in the work.

Mardy Fish
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Roger Federer breezed into the third round of the US Open with a regulation straight sets win over Andreas Beck, while 11th seed Marin Cilic crashed out after a marathon match with Japan's Kei Nishikori.

World number two Federer needed just an hour and 41 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium to beat Germany's Beck 6-3 6-4 6-3 without any undo concerns throughout.

Federer, who is seeking to reach a seventh straight US Open final, raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set against his 24-year-old opponent, and never looked back despite the left-hander then winning three games in a row.

Federer re-asserted his authority to close out the set by holding serve to love, and the 16-time Grand Slam winner broke three more times to cruise into the third round without really getting out of third gear.

The 29-year-old improves his US Open record to 53-5, as he looks to win back the title he won five years in succession before losing to Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in last year's final.

Del Potro has been unable to defend his title due to injury, and it is Federer who will continue his title tilt against France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Cilic crashes

Croatia's Cilic then became the latest big-name casualty, the 11th seed losing in five sets to Japan's Nishikori in a match which lasted a minute short of five hours.

The second set alone lasted an hour and 17 minutes and the fourth an hour and 13 minutes as Nishikori recovered from two sets to one down to win 5-7 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-1.

Both players understandably struggled in the heat of New York, and Nishikori said: "I don't know how long I played, I'm pretty tired of course.

"I was cramping from the second or third set but I kept fighting and fighting and that fourth set tie-break was key for me. It was a great match. It was hot today but I am feeling great now."

Elsewhere at Flushing Meadows, a slimline Mardy Fish continued his impressive form to power into the third round with a powerful three-set win over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas.

Fish power

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.

After knee surgery at the end of September last year, Fish hired a nutritionist to help him get back into shape, the 28-year-old American subsequently losing more than two stone.

"I really got aggressive with my training once I knew I was able to put in long hours and not get injured or have nicks and bruises and things like that which come up when you're probably not in your best shape," Fish said.

"And it really got fun. It got fun to practice. It's fun to try to outlast guys and it's fun to see when you play a match like today and you're in the heat and you crawl back and win that first set.

"You kind of look over in the changeover and see the guy has got the ice towel around his neck and he's probably not feeling that well. That's why you put in the work."

Fish will face France's Arnaud Clement in the last 32 after Clement's second-round opponent, Eduardo Schwank, was forced to retire hurt from their clash.

Clement had won the first set 6-3 and the scores were level at 5-5 in the second when Schwank decided he was unable to continue due to an ankle injury.

Spain's Albert Montanes also advanced to the last 32, the 21st seed enjoying an easy 6-4 6-3 6-1 win against Australia's Carsten Ball.