Tennis:World number three Roger Federer cruised through to the third round of the US Open with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Dudi Sela at Flushing Meadows.
The Swiss star had been a little erratic in his first-round win over Santiago Giraldo, letting his opponent retrieve a double break in the opening set and also temporarily letting him off the hook in the second.
That match took place in the night session and Federer blamed the slow courts, but playing in the heat of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium today he had no such problems.
The 30-year-old was particularly impressive on his serve, dropping only seven points during the match and never giving Sela a sniff of a break.
That piled the pressure on the Israeli to hold onto his serve, and it was a test he could not pass. The world number 93 has a stylish one-handed backhand but not the power to trouble a player like Federer.
The five-time former US Open champion broke for the first time in the sixth game and two breaks each in the second and third sets allowed him to clinch victory after only 77 minutes.
Federer is likely to face a much tougher test in the third round, though, against either 27th seed Marin Cilic or rising star Bernard Tomic, who meet later today.
Serena Williams also secured an easy passage into the third round with a 6-0 6-1 victory inside 50 minutes against qualifier Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands.
Williams, seeded 28th at Flushing Meadows, was far too powerful for her opponent who is currently ranked 173rd in the world.
The gulf in class was obvious in the opening games and Williams flew into a 5-0 lead inside 20 minutes.
Krajicek, 22, attempted to get herself back into the game but anything new she tried was not enough to find a way past an in-form Williams who wrapped up the first set in 23 minutes with another superb game.
The Dutchwoman finally held a serve at the start of the second set but she was being forced into chasing winners off almost every delivery as Williams continued to dominate.
The 29-year-old American, whose sister withdrew from the tournament yesterday after revealing she suffers from the auto-immune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome, faced more of a challenge to win the second set but after winning a pivotal point during the fifth game she never looked back.
Williams completed the match in typically emphatic style to continue on into the third round of her 12th US Open where she could face fourth seed Victoria Azarenka.