Murray cruises through another straight sets Open in

Published>Sat, Sep 04 10 03:57 AM

Andy Murray, his confidence soaring with every shot, sailed through to the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday with a clinical 7-5 6-3 6-0 victory over unseeded Jamaican Dustin Brown.

The British world number four snatched a tight opening set with a single break of serve then ran away with the match as the dreadlocked Brown's game unravelled and his resistance faded inside Arthur Ashe stadium.

The unorthodox Jamaican, wearing a sleevless shirt and baggy shorts, provided Murray with some awkward moments in the opening set with his cavalier all-or-nothing approach, but was eventually outclassed when the Scotsman figured him out.

"I knew what to expect because I had spoken to few people, he's a shotmaker who tries to get the crowd on his side," Murray said in a courtside interview. "He has a whippy serve, it took me a bit of time to work out."

The defending women's champion Kim Clijsters recovered from a slow start to reel off 12 games in a row in her 6-3 6-0 third round win over Czech Petra Kvitova.

The Belgian struggled with her serve as the stifling heat of the previous days gave way to gusting winds and light rain but was still too good for Kvitova, who was seeded 27th.

Clijsters, who won the U.S. Open in 2005 and 2009, is yet to drop a set in the tournament this year and steadily improving aspects of her game.

"I think it's only a matter of a few little details I think in my game that I just want to improve," she said.

"I'm trying to achieve the perfect match but a match like today gives me more satisfaction because I beat a good player without even playing my best tennis."

Clijsters will play either Ana Ivanovic or Virginie Razzano in the round of 16 with Samantha Stosur or Elena Dementieva lurking in the quarter-finals.

Stosur, runner-up at the French Open in June and seeded fifth at Flushing Meadows, turned in an impressive display to defeat Italy's Sara Errani 6-2 6-3 in one hour 20 minutes.

The Australian came into the tournament under an injury cloud but is slowly building momentum and confidence.

"Once you get to this point, you never know what can happen," she said. "So if you keep playing well, you can find yourself in maybe the semis or finals. If I've been there once, I definitely want to try to be there again."

Dementieva, a finalist at the U.S. Open six years ago, booked her passage into the fourth round with a 7-5 6-2 victory over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova with 7-5 6-2 win.

The Russian won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing but has never won a grand slam singles title.

"I don't put any pressure on myself. I have had a very successful career so far," she said. "I'm definitely looking for the big title, but I'm just trying to work on my game."

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