Saturday 5 September 2015 15:23, UK
Top seed Novak Djokovic and defending champion Marin Cilic are into the fourth round of the US Open after wins on Friday.
Djokovic beat Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-5 6-3 in a largely one-sided affair while Cilic edged a back-and-forth 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 contest against Mikhail Kukushkin.
Djokovic rarely looked troubled by the Italian, who he has now beaten in all 11 of their head-to-head meetings.
Even when he was broken in his second service game, in the blink of an eye he returned the favour to find himself 3-2 ahead with his trademark returns finding their mark from the start.
After holding for a fourth, Djokovic had his opponent pinned behind the base-line and Seppi, darting from side-to-side to keep himself alive, eventually ceded a break by hitting into the net. Djokovic served out the set almost forgivingly.
Djokovic's main issue seemed a troublesome neck or back complaint that required ice but he showed no ill effects when he returned for the second set. Seppi impressed with his own service games until his sixth, when Djokovic's returns stepped up a gear and he broke at the second attempt before doing enough to reach the finish line.
He broke again in the third set at the second time of asking but there was the slightest of wobbles as the end seemed nigh.
Serving for the match, he inexplicably didn't win a point and allowed the world No 25 to break. But Djokovic broke right back to go 6-5 up, roaring with delight, and although he then conceded another break point he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
It was Djokovic's third straight sets win of the US Open so far.
Earlier, Cilic stepped onto the Grandstand court having won 16 straight sets at Flushing Meadows but that streak quickly came to an end when 56th-ranked Kukushkin took the opening set in a tie-break in what was the start of a long and harrowing afternoon for the defending champion.
After crashing out in the first or second round of his last 16 tournaments, Kukushkin appeared determined to maintain an extended Grand Slam run following a second-round upset of 17th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
For four sets, the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan gave Cilic all he could handle and more, but in the fifth he simply ran out of steam as the Croat surged ahead 5-0 before closing out the marathon encounter with his 27th ace.
Watch the US Open at New York on Sky Sports from 4pm all this week. Not a Sky subscriber? Then watch through online streaming service NOW TV.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
