Hewitt makes smooth progress

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 champion, routed 30th seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-1 6-4 6-2 in the third round of the US Open and cannot meet another seed until the semi-finals.

“I feel good at the moment,” Hewitt said. “In the Slams this year, I feel like I’ve played pretty well and I’ve lost to the eventual champion each time.”

Earlier, second seed and defending champion Andy Roddick cruised into the fourth round with yet another romp, a 6-1 6-3 6-3 destruction of Argentina’s Guillermo Canas

The American’s unbelievable serving continued with 21 aces and no double faults.

“I played well,” said Roddick, whose serve has been broken just once through three rounds. “I had a game plan. I competed well. I took it to him.”

Roddick is getting used to some fast starts, losing a total of one game in the first set of his first three matches.

He now meets 18th seed Tommy Robredo of Spain, who defeated Austrian qualifier Alexander Peya 6-3 6-3 6-2.

Germany’s Tommy Haas defeated Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Mello 6-2 6-3 7-5 to advance to the fourth round

Haas, who missed last year’s US Open to recover from surgery on his right shoulder, needed five sets to beat Italian Davide Sanguinetti in the first round and four to eliminate 12th seed Sebastien Grosjean of France in the second round.

The 26-year-old Haas reached the fourth round here for the fourth time but he has never advanced to the quarter-finals at the National Tennis Center.

Other winners included 28th seed Joachim Johansson of Sweden and unseeded Michael Llodra of France, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Slovakia’s Karol Beck.