Nadal enters 4th round; Serena meets Henin in QFs

New Delhi: World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is through to the fourth round of the men's singles in the US Open at the Flushing Meadows.

He survived an early scare to claim an opening set tie-break before beating Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-2, 6-1.

This was Tsonga's first appearance at the US Open. However, Nadal has been carrying a knee injury into this tournament and hasn't looked very fit during his matches so far.

"I played good today. Today and second round I played so much better. I'm happy about my game from today and two days ago. I am playing well. Sure, it's not easy play like this (with my knee), and this - well, it's more difficult play good if you have some problem, like me, no? So I'm very happy about that," Nadal said.

Spanish 15th seed David Ferrer beat Argentina's David Nalbandian to progress to the fourth round. Ferrer won the match 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Meanwhile, third seed Novak Djokovic had an easy match against his opponent Juan Martin del Potro. He won 6-1 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 42-minutes. He will now face Argentine Juan Monaco in the next round.

In the women's section, Serena Williams beat 10th seed Marion Bartoli of France 6-3, 6-4 in her fourth round match on Sunday.

"I definitely felt a lot better on my serve today, especially against her because she's actually a really good returner. So I felt that my serve was actually a lot better today than had been in my previous matches, so It's on track. I want it to just keep getting better with each round, especially now with the quarter-finals," Serena said.

Venus Williams has also joined her sister in the quarter-final after she beat fifth seed Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2. Venus took one hour and twenty minutes to win the match in front of a vocal home crowd.

Standing in Serena's way of the possible match-up with Venus is top seed and world No. 1 Justine Henin. The Belgian beat Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-2 in just 59 minutes to advance to the next round.

US Open results

Men's third round

Juan Ignacio Chela (20), Argentina, def. Ivan Ljubicic (12), Croatia, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. David Ferrer (15), Spain, def. David Nalbandian (24), Argentina, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-1. Juan Monaco (23), Argentina, def. Agustin Calleri, Argentina, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, def. Robby Ginepri, United States, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Carlos Moya (17), Spain, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4. Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, def. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, def. Tommy Robredo (8), Spain, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.<

Women's fourth round

Serena Williams (8), United States, def. Marion Bartoli (10), France, 6-3, 6-4. Venus Williams (12), United States, def. Ana Ivanovic (4), Serbia, 6-4, 6-2. Justine Henin (1), Belgium, def. Dinara Safina (15), Russia, 6-0, 6-2. Jelena Jankovic (3), Serbia, def. Sybille Bammer (19), Austria, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Men's doubles third round

Mark Knowles, Bahamas, and Daniel Nestor (2), Canada, def. Amer Delic and Justin Gimelstob, United States, 6-3, 7-6 (1). Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa, Brazil, def. Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden, and Max Mirnyi (3), Belarus, 6-3, 6-4. Simon Aspelin, Sweden, and Julian Knowle (10), Austria, def. Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (8), Israel, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Bob and Mike Bryan (1), United States, def. Jeff Coetzee, South Africa, and Rogier Wassen (13), Netherlands, 6-1, 6-4. Robert Kendrick and Sam Querrey, United States, def. Florent Serra and Gilles Simon, France, 6-3, 6-1.

Women's third round

Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia, and Ai Sugiyama (3), Japan, def. Vania King, United States, and Emilie Loit (15), France, 6-3, 6-2. Stephanie Foretz, France, and Yaroslava Shvedova, Russia, def. Akiko Morigami, Japan, and Meilen Tu, United States, 6-2, 6-1. Agnes Szavay, Hungary, and Vladimira Uhlirova (14), Czech Republic, def. Alicia Molik, Australia, and Mara Santangelo (4), Italy, 7-5, 6-4. Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung (5), Taiwan, def. Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual (9), Spain, 6-4, 6-2. Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and Rennae Stubbs (6), Australia, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, and Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Corina Morariu and Meghann Shaughnessy (13), United States, def. Maria Elena Camerin, Italy, and Gisela Dulko, Argentina, 6-1, 6-2.

Mixed doubles second round

Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi, Belarus, def. Vania King and Vince Spadea, United States, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 tiebreak. Nathalie Dechy, France, and Andy Ram, Israel, def. Chuang Chia-jung, Taiwan, and Jonathan Erlich (8), Israel, 6-2, 6-3. Agnieszka Radwanska and Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Poland, def. Chan Yung-jan, Taiwan, and Rogier Wassen, Netherlands, 6-4, 7-6 (2). Ashley Harkleroad and Justin Gimelstob, United States, def. Alicia Molik, Australia, and Mike Bryan (2), United States, 6-3, 6-4.