US Open Day 4 - Top Seeds Show Their Worth

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams proved their worth as the number one seeds on day four of the US Open as both progressed into the third round of the competition with comfortable straight set victories.

In back to back matches on the Arthur Ashe stadium Williams, top seed in the Women’s draw, dropped just a single game on her way to victory a 6-1 6-0 over fellow American Vania King. That was followed by a similarly emphatic win for the men’s number one Novak Djokovic who beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1 6-3 6-0 just under an hour and a half.

Djokovic, Murray and Williams all progressed to round three

For Williams it was a triumph which reinstated the American as the favourite for this year’s event following a difficult year where she has failed to reach the quarter final stage in any of the three previous majors.

However in this second round clash her credentials as the defending champion were under little scrutiny. King simply had no answer to the power and speed that Williams possessed as the 17 time major winner appeared back to her ruthless best to reach the third round in under an hour.

A few minutes later it was Djokoivc’s turn and after early defeats in recent tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati the Serb also appeared back on top of his game and ready to reproduce to sort of form which saw him claim his second Wimbledon title back in July.

Djokovic broke the world number 81 Mathieu in the first game of the match and from then on the Serb’s solid all-round game showed no signs of cracking. After a one sided first set Mathieu did his best to make the second more of a contest however his erratic hitting did little to puncture Djokovic’s impeccable defence.

If anyone learnt anything in the third and final set it was how big the gulf in class actually was. Djokovic dominated it without wasting an ounce of energy that wasn’t required and should remain in optimum shape to face American Sam Querrey in the third round on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw Andy Murray averted any fears that he’s not 100% fit at this year’s Championships with a straight sets 6-3 6-3 6-4 win over German Matthias Bachinger. The Brit will now face Andrey Kuznetsov in the third round after he beat Fernando Verdasco in five sets.

There were also second round wins for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga over  Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Milos Raonic over Peter Gojowczyk and home favourite John Isner over  German Jan-Lennard Struff.

In the Women’s draw Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova progressed by beating Petra Cetkovska 6-4 6-2, while Eugenie Bouchard needed three sets to overcome Heather Watson’s conqueror  Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4.

There were also wins for Victoria Azarenka and 11^th seed Flavia Pennetta, however 8^th seed Ana Ivanovic and American hopeful Madison Keys both crashed out.