Friday 29 August 2014 11:42, UK
Novak Djokovic dropped just four games against Paul-Henri Mathieu as he coasted into the third round of the US Open.
The world No 1, bidding to reach the final in New York for a fifth straight year, had a straightforward afternoon on Arthur Ashe, defeating 81st-ranked Mathieu 6-1 6-3 6-0.
As good as Djokovic was from the start, Mathieu was his own worst enemy, serving seven double faults in the opening set as he struggled to adjust to the windy conditions.
The Frenchman settled down in the second set and had a chance to break for 3-2 but could only watch as his forehand clipped the top of the net and dropped just wide.
Djokovic made him pay straight away with a break of his own and went on to take the second set, and the third was completely one-sided as he wrapped up victory after just an hour and 28 minutes.
The Wimbledon champion said: "It's very windy but I managed to adjust to the conditions. I managed to play better in the important moments, to stay solid and use my serve with accuracy rather than speed. I'm very happy with my performance overall."
The top seed next plays American Sam Querrey, who beat 28th seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Querrey's only win in eight previous meetings with Djokovic came at the Masters event in Paris two years ago.
Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eased to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Aleksandr Nedovyesov, celebrating his win with some shadow boxing rather than his customary dance.
Tenth seed Kei Nishikori was two sets up when Pablo Andujar retired while American No 1 John Isner was untroubled in a 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 6-2 win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
The 13th seed now meets German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has beaten him at the same stage of the US Open for the past two years.
"I wouldn't really call it a problem," said Isner. "I have beaten him more times than he's beaten me overall. But he's beaten me here.
"I thought our matches the last two years have been pretty high quality. I remember last year I wasn't disappointed with how I played. He just played better than me. Simple as that.
"In a few days' time I'm just going to have to try to be better than him."
