Jankovic sent packing

Earlier on Friday,Rafael Nadal won the points that mattered most as he beat Denis Istomin in straight sets on Friday and advanced to the third round of the US Open. Nadal saved all seven break points against him and went on to win 6-2,7-6 (5),7-5.

Eight-time major champion Nadal is seeking to complete a career Grand Slam,and he reached the third round at Flushing Meadows for the sixth consecutive year. But he’s never been past the semi-finals,where he lost in 2008 and 2009.

Next up is a third-round match against Gilles Simon of France,who eliminated 29th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 4-6,6-3,1-6,6-1,6-3 – the only defeat of a men’s seed.

Nadal’s win followed the theme of the day as the top-ranked men all won in straight sets. Andy Murray beat Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5,6-3,6-0,while Spanish pair Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer also cruised through in straight sets. Indeed all but one of the 12 seeded men in action on Friday won through to round three.

The women’s draw was almost as predictable,with defending champion Kim Clijsters,former winner Venus Williams,Sam Stosur and Francesca Schiavone all straight sets winners,along with ex-No.1 Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva.

Schiavone does a Federer

Clijsters lost the first three games of her match before coming back to defeat No. 27 Petra Kvitova 6-3,6-0. Stosur beat Sara Errani 6-2,6-3 while the highlight was Schiavone’s back-to-the-net,between-the-legs shot in her 6-1,7-5 victory over Alona Bondarenko — nearly identical to what Roger Federer has done each of the past two years at the U.S. Open.

Ivanovic had a 7-5,6-0 win over Virginie Razzano while Dementieva won 7-5,6-2 against No.24 Daniela Hantuchova — the highest-seeded player in either singles draw to lose on Friday.

Bopanna-Qureshi advance

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi progressed to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-4 win over German-Finn pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen in the second round.