Federer, Murray reach US Open fourth round

US Open–New York

Under hot and humid conditions in New York on Saturday, top seed Roger Federer and No. 3 seed Andy Murray both progressed to round of 16 action with victories over Spanish opponents.

For Federer, his road to  grand slam title number 18 featured a straight set victory over Fernando Verdasco. Defeating the left-hander 6-3, 6-4, 6- 4, Federer reached the fourth round or better in the tournament for the 12th straight year.

Holding a lock on the No. 1 spot irrespective of his outcome in Flushing Meadows, Federer will next face either Mardy Fish or Gilles Simon. The pair will contest the night’s featured match on Ashe Stadium.

Elsewhere, Olympic Gold medal winner Andy Murray survived a struggle in brutal conditions before closing out Feliciano Lopez, 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4) . Murray, who remains in search of his elusive first major, struck 53 winners and hit 16 aces during his win. Lopez, who played with a lot of passion, won more total points than Murray in the match at 162-154.

The Scot will next face either Milos Raonic or James Blake.

In other third-round results on Saturday, Nicolas Almagro out-muscled Jack Sock 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-1, and Marin Cilic continued his fine play this summer by clawing past Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3.

Martin Klizan, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the previous round, backed up his big win by blowing past Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

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