Rafael Nadal reached the third round of the US Open after Nicolas Mahut was forced to retire when trailing by two sets.
Spaniard admits he has yet to hit top form in New York
Rafael Nadal conceded his confidence is not as high as when he won the US Open title 12 months ago after reaching the third round thanks to Nicolas Mahut's retirement.
The world number two somehow escaped with a straight-sets victory over Andrey Golubev in the first round despite trailing badly in both the second and third sets.
He had no such problems on Friday, leading Mahut 6-2 6-2 when the Frenchman became the 16th singles player to withdraw from the tournament.
"I'm sorry for him," said Nadal. "He felt pain when he was serving. That's what he told me. So I wish him all the best."
Usurped
The Spaniard had a superb 2010, winning three grand slam titles, but this season he has been thoroughly usurped by Novak Djokovic, who he lost to in the Wimbledon final.
Nadal struggled in the US Open warm-up tournaments but he was quick to remind people that he rarely glides through a grand slam unscathed, not even when he won his first Flushing Meadows title last year.
Mahut said Nadal did not seem to be going for his shots as much as he was 12 months ago, and Nadal admitted: "Probably that's correct. Nobody's with the same confidence in every moment of his career.
"One year ago, in the second round, I didn't go for those shots, too. I played a defensive match, suffering a lot against (Denis) Istomin.
"The people remember the last day when you are with the trophy, when you play fantastic in the final. But, to arrive at this moment, not everything is a way of roses.
"Not everybody's ready to start from the beginning to play perfect. Sometimes you are not ready to start perfect and you cannot improve during the tournament, so you go back home. That's the sport.
"We will see if I am ready to improve. I improved a little bit for the third round. I'm happy for that."
Nadal next faces Argentinian David Nalbandian, who knocked out 30th seed Ivan Ljubicic and has won two of his four meetings with the Spaniard, although both of those came back in 2007.
The second seed said: "He's a very dangerous opponent. I've had very tough matches against him. We practise a lot together. He's a good friend. It will be a very good test for me."
Roddick through
In the final match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Andy Roddick showed fellow Nebraskan Jack Sock that there will be no changing of the guard just yet, triumphing 6-3 6-3 6-4.
Sock, 18, had chances to break the famed Roddick serve in the first and second sets, and, although he finally managed it in the third, the 21st seed proved too strong.
