US OPEN: Easy progress for Federer and Wozniacki in New York

By Sportsbeat staff

ROGER Federer and Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the third round of the US Open with straight forward and straight sets victories.

HAVE IT: Roger Federer hits balls into the crowd after winning a match against Andreas Beck at the US Open (Reuters)

Despite difficult windy conditions, five-time champion Federer was never troubled against Andreas Beck, winning the first five games to establish a firm control that he never relinquished.

To his credit the world number 104 battled to ensure some respectability to the scoreline but was finally brushed aside 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in just one hour and 41 minutes.

"It's the perfect start," said Federer.

"I played Monday, had two days off, I had another easy one physically and here I am in the third round feeling like I'm completely in the tournament."

Novak Djokovic, who was unconvincing in his opening match, was given a more thorough examination before advancing 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 against Germany's Philipp Petzschner.

A finalist in 2007 and a semi-finalist for the past two years, he will now face American James Blake - who it's rumoured may shortly announce his retirement - for a place in the last 16

"I was shaky the whole match but I was able to hold on," he said.

"It's important to save energy in the opening rounds. Overall I can be satisfied with how I played. I played well when I needed to and was a little bit lucky."

Fifth seed Robin Soderling took just 92 minutes to beat American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 although sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko lost and 11th seed Marin Cilic fell to Japan's little-known Kei Nishikori.

ATP Tour Final champion Davydenko, a two-time semi-final loser to Federer at Flushing Meadows, fell 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to France's Richard Gasquet.

Top seed Wozniacki underlined the seriousness of her challenge for a maiden Grand Slam title with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Taipei's Kai-Chen Chang that took the Dane just 47 minutes.

"I don't give any free points away and that is one of my strong points," said Wozniacki, who has only dropped two games so far.

"I am feeling fresh, all recovered from my ankle injury. I am happy to be playing injury-free. It's all perfect."

Former champion Maria Sharapova - Wozniacki's likely fourth round opponent - was also hardly troubled as she beat Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2 while fourth seed Jelena Jankovic needed to dig deep before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 against Croatia's Mirjana Lucic.