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Rafael Nadal has swept through the third round with a resounding straight sets win over Andrey Kuznetsov.
Nadal with a better performance today but still plenty to work on if he wants to compete with the big guns once we get further into the US Open.
Kuznetsov caused him a couple of problems here and there, but as always Nadal’s defence looks to be going very well and that will keep him in matches.
Nadal will go on to play Lucas Pouille in the fourth round.
Nadal wins 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
Rafael Nadal might have had things pretty easy through to the third round, but he must improve his level of play if he is going to have a similar level of success against world No.47 Andrey Kuznetsov. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 9am (AEST).
Maybe as expected, the fourth seed Nadal is yet to lose a set at the final grand slam of the year, but his play has been down on what you might normally expect.
His offence has well and truly been lacking, as has his serve and it means he is getting very few free points, having to fight hard even on his serve.
Nadal’s absolute level of class has been enough to see him through thus far as he has been defending to the point where he is able to work his opponent over and then put nearly every point away.
After beating Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round and not looking phased despite the fact improvement was needed, he came up against Andreas Seppi.
Seppi gave him a little taste of what might be to come though, as he took the second set to 7-5.
After a third round exit at Wimbledon for Kuznetsov, he has surprised many with his level of form since winning only two matches in the lead-up to the US Open, with both of those coming as opponents had to leave the match through injury.
Kuznetsov himself hasn’t been immune to the injury bug having to drop out of his match at the Rio Olympics against Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second set.
However, since landing in New York he has only dropped one set across the first two rounds. He has also played quality players Thomas Buelluci and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
He won a third set tie-breaker against Vinolas to close it out in straight sets after dropping the second set to Belluci.
His game seems to be on fire and the way Nadal has been playing, Kuznetsov will give himself a major chance if he can get a fast start and go on the attack early.
The pair have matched up three times previously with all of those coming since the start of 2015. Kuznetsov hasn’t won a match, but has pushed two of those matches to three sets.
Prediction
Nadal will win, but I’m not convinced given how he has been playing that it will be straight forward. He will probably lose a set, but that might well kick him into gear for the rest of the tournament and so wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen.
Nadal in four sets.
Join The Roar for live coverage of this third round match from 9am (AEST) and be sure to get involved by dropping a comment below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde