Nadal, Dokovic set for third-round matches at U.S. Open

NEW YORK - Sep 2 : Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic return to action in a pair of third-round contests on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the two took contrasting paths to get there.

The second-seeded Nadal made it through when Serb Janko Tipsarevic retired due to a rib ailment midway through the third set on Friday night with Nadal leading, 6-2, 6-3, 3-2.
Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, was forced to work much harder in arguably the tournament's most exciting match thus far, needing five sets to squash the upset bid of Radek Stepanek.

While Djokovic hopes for an easier time when he faces Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in Sunday's nightcap, Nadal hopes his left knee continues to hold up during his afternoon affair with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

After left knee tendinitis hampered him at times during his first-round victory, Nadal's movement was much improved against Tipsarevic.

"I felt better," said Nadal following the second-round triumph. "I felt a little bit more confidence in the knees. I hope to continue improving for the next match against Tsonga."

The 21-year-old Nadal meets the 22-year old Tsonga for the first time on tour, but the two aren't completely unfamiliar with one another, having battled at the U-16 European Championships some years ago.

"He beat me," said Nadal as he vaguely recalled the moment. "I don't remember. Close match, 7-6, 7-5, or something like that."

Despite their similar age, Nadal, a Spaniard, is much more accomplished than his French counterpart. The world's second-ranked player and three-time champ at Roland Garros leads the tour with six titles thus far this season.

Tsonga is appearing in only his second career Grand Slam event, having debuted earlier in the year at Wimbledon where he reached the fourth round. Two days ago, the Frenchman ended Tim Henman's slam career by defeating the Brit in four sets.

Coming off the longest match so far at this year's tournament (4 hours, 41 minutes), the 20-year old Djokovic faces the youngest player remaining in the draw. The 18-year old Del Potro is making his second U.S. Open appearance. He lost his debut here in the first round as a qualifier. The Argentine has yet to defeat a top-10 player (0-7).

Nadal is one of four Spaniards on Sunday's docket. No. 8 Tommy Robredo, 15th-seeded David Ferrer and No. 17 Carlos Moya are the others.

Hoping to reach the round of 16 for the fourth straight time here, Robredo faces the draw's lowest-ranked remaining player in Ernests Gulbis of Latvia (No. 88).

Ferrer meets 24th-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian, a semifinalist here in 2003, for the eight time.

The veteran Moya bids to move through to the final 16 here for the fourth time, while opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany entered the tournament owning only one U.S. Open win in his four previous appearances.