Nadal through while Ferrer falls

Rafael Nadal moved into the fourth round at the US Open after a push in the second set opened up a closely contested match, lifting him to a 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory over Viktor Troicki of Serbia yesterday.

However, fellow Spaniard David Ferrer did not fare as well, falling to Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who battled through a tough five-set match to post a 6-4 6-4 3-6 2-6 7-5 victory.

A Grand Slam where he hasn’t enjoyed much success in the past, Nadal was able to find a way to work past any previous struggles he has had.

“(I am) happy about how I played today,” Nadal said. “I played a consistent match, so (I am) happy for the victory and especially happy to be in (fourth) round another year.”

After cruising past his first two opponents in straight sets, the top-seeded Spaniard found himself in a tough spot at Arthur Ashe Stadium, falling behind an inspired Troicki 3-1 in the second set.

However, Nadal, who is in search of his third consecutive major championship, was able to right the ship, ripping off the final 11 games to move on.

Nadal credited a pair of key passing shots in the middle of the second set as keys to rally.

“The first one I think was most important because (it) gave me the break back, so it was very important for my confidence,” he said. “Because in that moment he was serving well and was difficult. But after this, I started playing better, and he had some mistakes and finally I won.”

The Spaniard next will face American Sam Querrey in the fourth round.

Overtaking the long-time number one Roger Federer, the 22-year-old Nadal has been on a roll in 2008, capturing his fourth straight French Open title, grabbing the crown at Wimbledon to halt Federer’s reign and taking the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. He also has won five other titles this year.

However, Nadal never has advanced further than the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows and was eliminated in the fourth round last year – his worst showing at a Grand Slam in the last three years.

Despite the roll that Nadal has been on, Troicki was not intimidated. The 22-year-old Serb had an early break to give him a strong start to the second set but could not match the Spaniard when he then went a notch higher.

Earlier, Querrey made some noise for the Americans with a 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 upset win over number 14 Ivo Karlovic.

The 20-year-old reached the fourth round here for the first time in his career by matching the hard-serving Karlovic as best he could, notching 20 aces to the Croatian’s 24.

“I know it feels great,” Querrey said. “My first fourth round of a major, and it’s great that it’s the US Open. It’s the one that if I had to pick one to win it would be this one.”

For his second straight round, sixth seed Andy Murray had his hands full. After needing a fourth set to edge French lefthander Michael Llodra on Thursday, Murray battled past Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (5/7) 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 6-3.

Murray, who has never advanced beyond the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, was close to being wiped out in straight sets, dropping behind 5-4 in the third-set tiebreak following an ace by Melzer.

However, the Scot was able to muster a rally to claim the third set, and came up big in the fifth after Melzer took off the fourth to conserve energy after dropping the first three games.

Gael Monfils of France had a much more impressive showing, using his superior athleticism to top seventh seed David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3 6-4 6-2.

The 21-year-old fired 12 aces and took advantage of 41 unforced errors by Nalbandian to set up a matchup with the winner between Blake and Fish.

In another match that went the full five sets, Stanislas Wawrinka came back from two sets down to top Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 5-7 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 6-0 6-4. Wawrinka, who claimed gold at the Beijing Olympics in doubles with Federer, will meet Murray in the fourth round.

Also Saturday, 16th seed Gilles Simon of France was upended by number 17 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 3-6 6-3. Del Potro took another step toward winning his fifth straight tournament.