NEWYORK: Nadal, whose only loss in his current run came to Serbia s third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati semi-finals, thrilled a record crowd of 37,380 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After breaking Troicki in the last game of the first set, Nadal surrendered a break by netting a forehand to give his rival a 2-1 lead.

But Nadal responded in the sixth game by swatting a running forehand winner past Troicki to break back level at 3-3 and never lost another game.

After capturing Olympic gold at Beijing, Nadal is trying to become only the fourth man to win three Slam titles in a row in the 40 years of the Open era, joining Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Rod Laver.

Nadal, seeking his ninth title of the year, defeated Federer in the French Open and Wimbledon finals and moved past him atop the rankings on August 18 after being second for a record 160 weeks.

Venus Williams advanced by beating Ukraine s Alona Bondarenko 6-2,6-1 yesterday, the seventh seed needing only 56 minutes to bounce Bondarenko for the second year in a row. Williams fired nine aces and 32 winners.

"I felt like I had to play my game, serve huge, and that served me well," Williams said. "She is very consistent."

Poland s ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is up next for Venus. Radwanska, who eliminated Slovakia s Dominika Cibulkova 6-0,6-3 in 76 minutes, beat Williams in 2006 at Luxembourg in their only prior meeting.

Eight-time Slam champion Serena Williams defeated Japan s Ai Sugiyama 6-2,6-1. Serena will have to defeat either Italy s Tathiana Garbin or France s Severine Bremond to reach the final eight.
Source : PTI