Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/163731
50 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2013 TENNIS Nadal books fourth-round spot RAFAEL Nadal powered past Ivan Dodig to reach the fourth round of the US Open. The Spaniard has been the most impressive of the big names so far and that was no different today as he saw off the challenge of Croatian Dodig 6-4 6-3 6-3. That took Nadal's record on hard courts this season to 18 wins and no defeats, with only five sets dropped. Dodig had beaten the Spaniard before, in Montreal two years ago, and he gave it everything, requiring treatment to his left leg in the first set after tumbling in an effort to reach a Nadal passing shot. But Nadal had the Croatian on a string for much of the match and, although the games were close, early breaks in each set proved more than enough for the second seed to progress. Next up for Nadal will be a last-16 meeting with either John Isner or Philipp Kohlschreiber. 'Frustrated' Murray into round three ANDY Murray may have had a little smile to himself when he looked at the US Open's redevelopment plans and saw that Louis Armstrong Stadium was to be knocked down and rebuilt. It was the main stadium at Flushing Meadows until the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium court opened in 1997 and has an illustrious history, but Murray must feel like there is Kryptonite under the surface. He suffered his last early defeat at a grand slam there in 2010 against Stanislas Wawrinka, and struggled through matches with Robin Haase in 2011 and Feliciano Lopez and Marin Cilic last year. On Friday, Argentina's world number 81 Leonardo Mayer was the foe to cause Murray trouble, with the defending champion extended to four sets in round two before clinching a 7-5 6-1 3-6 6-1 victory. Murray said: "It's a court I haven't played my best tennis on, that's for sure. And I think the conditions, well, it's day and night, isn't it? It's completely different. "The ball was bouncing extremely high out there at the beginning, and he's a big hitter of the ball. He served big, too, bigger than I thought. Big second serve, too. It took me some time to get used to his game. "I've had some tough matches there in the past, and today was the same." Murray may wonder what he has done to upset tournament organisers after following up his late-night start on Wednesday by becoming the first of the big names exiled from Ashe to Armstrong. He insisted that did not bother him, saying: "I'm happy to play on any court. It doesn't really make a huge difference. We got a great crowd out there. It was a really good atmosphere from pretty much the first point through to the last. "Whether or not I've played well on that court, it's always a really good atmosphere." Murray said after his firstround win over Michael Llodra that Mayer, who is exactly the same age as the Scot, was ranked below where he should be because of injury, and the Argentinian quickly set about proving him right. Murray's next opponent is Mayer's namesake, Florian, a German ranked 47th in the world who Murray has beaten in both their previous meetings.