Five-time champion Roger Federer brushed aside the challenge of Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the US Open fourth round.
Second seed Federer lost his serve for the first time since Wimbledon in a commanding 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory.
The Swiss, 34, will next play 13th seed John Isner, 30, of the United States.
In the women’s draw, Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova routed Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 to book a last-16 meeting with Briton Jo Konta.
Konta, 24, beat German 18th seed Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to extend her remarkable winning run to 16 matches.
The British number two had never been past the second round at a Grand Slam before this week.
Her fellow Briton Andy Murray plays Brazilian number 30 seed Thomaz Bellucci in his third-round match later.
Roger reveals the ‘Fed Attack’
Since recruiting Stefan Edberg to his coaching team in December 2013, Federer has varied his game with more approaches to the net to counter the baseline prowess of the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
However he revealed he stumbled on his recent habit of advancing in behind his return almost by accident during a jet-lagged practice session with Frenchman Benoit Paire at last month’s Cincinnati Masters event.
Federer explained: “I said, ‘OK, I’m going to chip and charge and just keep the points short. I’m tired. I want to get off the court soon anyway’. That’s when I started to run in and hit returns. I hit a couple for a winner. They were like ridiculous.
“I tried it the next practice and it still worked. That’s when [coach] Severin Luthi said, ‘Well, what about using it in a match?’ I was like, ‘Really?’
‘We sort of came up with that name, ‘sneak attack by Roger’ or ‘Sabr’ for short. I don’t know. Call it ‘Fed Attack’, call it whatever you want.”
What a Gas…
Richard Gasquet booked his spot in the fourth round by beating Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 6-1.
The shot of the match came when a thick net cord allowed Gasquet to play a winner around the net post and he continued running to receive a congratulatory fist bump from Tomic on his opponent’s side of the net.
“Bernard is a great friend of mine, so I think I can do it with him,” said Gasquet.
“You don’t do it with guys you don’t like.”
The Frenchman will play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-3.
Britwatch
In the men’s doubles, Scotland’s Colin Fleming and Treat Huey of the Philippines overcame Australia’s likely Davis Cup team of Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth 6-3 6-4.
Fleming and Huey, who had never played together before the US Open, will face Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the next round.
Quotes of the day
“Between ‘finish’ and ‘punish’, he came up with ‘pinish'” – Victoria Azarenka reveals that hitting partner Sascha Bajin has been inventing a new motivational language to help her to a 7-5 2-6 6-4 win over Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
“It was 90% you guys, 10% me. I was on the other end of one of those against Andy Murray in Scotland so it is nice to have you guys 100% for me” – Donald Young, who was beaten in four sets by Andy Murray in the Davis Cup in Glasgow in March revels in the home-crowd support after coming from two sets down to beat 22nd seed Viktor Troicki.
“For the coffees I’m going out, but otherwise I’m staying in the room.” Petra Kvitova is taking a simple approach to her pre-match preparation.
“I have done mistakes when I was younger, you know. Playing video games until too late and feel tired the next day, whatever it was.” Roger Federer reveals his past misdemeanours.
Maria Sharapova, missing from the tournament with a knee injury, is keeping the US Open’s official Twitter feed honest.
