Rafael Nadal was ruthless with Richard Gasquet whom he swept 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 in 2:17 on Saturday in the third round of the United States Open, handing the Frenchman his 18th defeat in as many meetings between the two . Players.

“The nose is a bit bigger than usual, but it’s OK,” began the Spaniard who had given himself a big blow to the face in the second round.

“Night sessions in New York are the most beautiful in the world. I have raised the level of my game and it is important to progress match by match,” said Nadal, author of 35 winning shots against 23 unforced errors.

The Spaniard, ranked 3rd in the world, therefore continues on his way to a 5th title in New York, which would allow him to increase the record of Grand Slam titles to 23. We will have to start by eliminating the American Frances Tiafoe (26th) in the stage of 16.

In front of nearly 24,000 spectators in a night session on Court Arthur-Ashe, Nadal imposed a challenge on Gasquet (ranked 91) from the start of the match, not hesitating to play the Frenchman’s backhand, but his shot was strong.

But Gasquet could not hold on and gradually collapsed, losing the first nine games of the game.

Symbolically, it was a straight backhand error that handed Nadal the first set.

At 6-0, 3-0, Gasquet, backed by a crowd that felt he was in distress, ended up winning his first game, raising his arms on a cross to cheers from the crowd. But he committed too many unforced errors (29) and was too sensitive with his serve (7 double faults in total and 57% of first serves) to worry Nadal who quietly won the next five games to take a two-sets lead and leave. 2-0 in the third.

Gasquet rallied, managing to take his opponent’s serve and eventually leveled the 36-year-old Majorcan until the latter managed a decisive break to take a 6-5 lead and serve for the win.

Gasquet, also 36, reached the last four at Flushing Meadows in 2013 but has not gone past the third round since 2018.

The two players have known each other since they were 12 years old. But on the main circuit, Nadal always clearly dominated Gasquet: in total they played 47 sets and the Frenchman won only 4 of them, the last in 2008.

Alcaraz also passes without a problem

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, ranked 4th in the world, needed just 2:11 to see off American Jenson Brooksby (ranked 43rd) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, confirming his status as a serious contender for the title.

“I played very, very well. At a high level,” explained Alcaraz, who will face Croatian Marin Cilic (17th and 2014 winner) in the round of 16. The latter beat Britain’s Daniel Evans (23rd) 7-6 (11), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-5.

Last year and for her first appearance, Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournaments in New York for the first time. This year, at 19, he returns in the suit of one of the main contenders for the title, especially since he played a four of a Major again, in the spring at Roland-Garros.

After dominating Brooksby in the first two innings, Alcaraz lost his face twice in the top of the third to fall behind 3-0, but they kept their cool and rattled off six straight games to open the doors for the second week.

Tiafoe gets rid of Schwarzman

American Frances Tiafoe struggled against world No. 16 Diego Schwarzman but managed to secure a three-set win 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 3:02.

Tiafoe recorded eight breaks of serve, compared to six of his Argentinian opponent.

Tiafoe reached the 16 for the third consecutive year. However, he will be looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in his US Open career. In 2021, his career came to a halt in a four-set loss to Félix Auger-Aliassime.

He could face a tall order, while Rafael Nadal could be on his way if he has France’s Richard Gasquet on Saturday night. Nadal won both men’s duels and did not drop a set.

Ivashka surprises Musetti and will face Sinner

World No. 30 Lorenzo Musetti suffered a surprise loss to ATP No. 73 Ilia Ivaska. Ivaska won in four sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and 6-2.

Ivashka converted all seven break points he got to win in 2:46 of the game.

Therefore, the surprise journey of Ivashka continues in the round of 16, he who had also beaten 8th Seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. In his first match at the tournament, Ivashka defeated American Sam Querrey.

Ivashka will next face 11th seed Jannik Sinner, who defeated Brandon Nakashima in four sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.

After dropping the first set against Nakashima, ranked 69th in the world, Sinner came back to win the next three sets and prevail in 2:59.

It will be the first duel between Ivashka and Sinner.

Norrie remains perfect

Britain’s Cameron Norrie remained unstoppable at the US Open with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 three-set victory over Denmark’s Holger Rune in the third round.

Norrie, the 7th seed in the tournament, took 2 hours and 12 minutes of match play to defeat the 33rd seed in the world. In three games since the start of the tournament, Norrie has not lost a set.

The Brit is on court just 6 hours and 17 minutes into the tournament.

In the next round, Norrie has a date with Russia’s Andrey Rublev, who defeated Denis Shapovalov after a grueling match of more than four hours. Norrie and Rublev have crossed swords twice and both won a duel.

Norrie will be looking to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time in his career.

Reaching the round of 16, it is already the best result of his United States Open career.