Roger Federer kept his bid for a fifth straight US Open title on course with a 6-3 6-3 6-2 demolition of Radek Stepanek.
Second seed reaches fourth round with 30th straight win in New York
Roger Federer kept his US Open defence on course with a 6-3 6-3 6-2 demolition of Radek Stepanek in the third round.
The Swiss player, bidding for a fifth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows, encountered little resistance from his 28th seeded Czech opponent.
Federer, who recently lost his world number one ranking to Rafael Nadal, looked somewhere close to his best form while handing out a tennis lesson to the unfortunate Stepanek.
"Today was pretty breezy so I tried to keep the ball in the court, not on the lines so much," said Federer.
"I returned well. I moved well on the baseline. I served well and that's a good sign for the rest of the tournament.
"I'm playing well not wasting any energy and moving on. But the important thing is winning the tourmnament. I don't try to impress anybody in the early rounds."
Federer won the last of his 12 grand slam titles in New York last year but believes he is close to regaining the aura of invincibility that has slipped away during the 2008 season.
"If I win a big tournament, right away I have the invincibility factor again," he added.
"I almost had it at Wimbledon (where he lost in five sets to Nadal in the final). I would hope to go a step further and have that invincibility factor again."
Wins for A-Rod, Davydenko
Home hope Andy Roddick served superbly during a 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-4) third-round win over 31st seed Andreas Seppi.
Roddick, the US Open champion in 2003, sent down 19 aces including one that was clocked at 140 miles-an-hour (225kph).
The eighth seed will next meet 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile after he defeated Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 6-4 6-7 6-1.
Earlier on Sunday, fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko subdued Russian compatriot Dmitry Tursunov 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to progress to the fourth round.
Davydenko needed two hours and 26 minutes to improve his lifetime record against Tursunov to 5-0 and faces Gilles Muller next.
Muller became the first player from Luxembourg to reach the last 16 of a grand slam with a 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 success over Spain's Nicolas Almagro.
