Spaniards march on in New York

Tennis:Rafael Nadal made smooth progress into the fourth round of the US Open with a straightforward win over Gilles Simon on Sunday.

The first two sets were closely fought but the world number one always had the edge and he ran through the third to complete a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory and set up a last-16 clash against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

The tone was set early on when Nadal broke for a 2-1 lead and he held on to that advantage to close out the set.

The second followed a similar pattern with one break, this time to establish a 4-3 advantage, proving enough.

Nadal was, by now, in full flow and Frenchman Simon, who became a father for the first time 48 hours ago, was unable to respond.

Further breaks in the first and third games of the third set effectively settled the match and with Nadal winning 91% of points when he got his first serve in there was never going to be a way back for his opponent.

Simon did earn his first break point of the match in the final game but Nadal simply upped his game once more to serve it out and clinch a commanding win in one hour and 59 minutes.

Nadal's compatriots David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco set up a derby in the fourth round of the US Open.  Ferrer advanced to the last 16 at Flushing Meadows for just the second time in his career with a comfortable 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 6-2 win over yet another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

The last time Ferrer reached the fourth round in New York was in 2007, when he beat Nadal on his way to the semi-finals, which remains his best result in a grand slam.

Eighth seed Verdasco needed four sets to beat Argentina's David Nalbandian and is looking forward to the all-Spanish clash with Ferrer.

"It's good that there is going to be for sure one Spanish player in the quarter-finals," Verdasco said. "It's always nice to see all the Spanish winning and being in the last rounds.

"If you need to lose, it's better to lose against a Spanish player, then at least one guy is going to be here for one round more.

"I'm happy. I hope to play well in the next round too, keep doing my work and my job as best as possible. I'm trying to be in the quarter-finals like last year.

"The last few weeks before here the results were really tough. I lost to Mardy (Fish) 7-6 7-6 and also to (Jeremy) Chardy with the tie-breaks. They were tough matches, close matches, but I lost all of them.

"So I'm happy how is this tournament going and I'm getting much more confidence. Beating Nalbandian, one of the players in the best form this summer, is gonna help me for my confidence."

A record nine Spanish players had reached the third round, but 14th seed Nicolas Almagro was unable to join Ferrer and Verdasco in the last 16 as he lost in straight sets to American Sam Querrey.

However, 23rd seed Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo did ensure more success for Spain, both benefitting from their respective opponents being forced to retire hurt.

Lopez was leading 6-3 4-0 against Sergiy Stakhovsky when the Ukrainian decided he couldn't continue while Robredo was beating Frenchman Michael Llodra 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 2-1.