Nadal fought back from a break down in a more competitive third set

Rafael Nadal rarely needed to get out of second gear as he thrashed American qualifier Ryler DeHeart in the night session at the US Open in New York.

The top seed was several classes above the world number 261, winning 6-1 6-2 6-4 to reach the third round.

DeHeart, 24, had won his first ever tour-level match in beating Olivier Rochus in the first round.

And Nadal showed no mercy as he won in one hour 40 minutes to set up a clash with Serbia's Viktor Troicki.

Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 25th seed, had earlier been one of several players to retire, handing victory to Troicki when the Serbian was leading 2-6 6-3 6-4 3-0.

The New York crowd did their best to get behind the battling DeHeart in his mismatch with Nadal, and they went wild when he broke for 3-0 in the third set, but the Spaniard soon made him pay.

I think we'll probably put our friendship aside for just a couple of hours Mardy Fish on facing James Blake in the third round

He reeled off five straight games as he tore into the American with his huge forehand to ensure a relatively short night's work.

"I did well," said Nadal. "I had to come back in third set from down 3-0 in games so I am happy with the victory.

"I am happy to be in the third round, for me this is a very important tournament."

Earlier, fourth seed David Ferrer battled past Andreas Beck of Germany to reach the last 64.

The Spaniard, a beaten semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, made a slow start before eventually coming through 4-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Seventh seed David Nalbandian cruised past Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-2 6-4 6-2.

American James Blake also went through but was struggling before Steve Darcis of Belgium retired.

The ninth seed lost the first set but was on the way back when Darcis pulled out because of a lower back problem with the scores at 4-6 6-3 1-0 in Blake's favour.

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"I got through it with a win," said Blake. "I have to be happy with that. It's a tough way to win. I definitely felt like I started playing a lot better.

"I had a ton of break chances in the second set; only capitalised on one."

Blake goes on to face fellow American and good friend Mardy Fish, who had an excellent 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over 24th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

"In the third round, for a place in the fourth round of the biggest tournament of the year, I think we'll probably put our friendship aside for just a couple of hours," said Fish.

Ferrer will next play Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori, who got past Roko Karanusic when the Croatian retired with a leg injury at the end of the second set.

Nishikori, who is playing in his first US Open, was leading Karanusic 6-1 7-5 at the time.

"I wasn't playing well today," said the Japanese player. "But he retired, and I was just lucky."

Number 10 seed and Olympic doubles champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland had no such problems in his 6-4 7-6 (7-6) 6-2 victory over American Wayne Odesnik.

And 17th seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina continued his incredible run of form, racking up his 21st consecutive victory with a 4-6 6-1 7-5 6-3 win over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.

Sam Querrey of the United States beat France's Nicolas Devilder 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 4-6 6-3.

He will next face fellow big-server Ivo Karlovic after the Croatian 14th seed defeated Frenchman Florent Serra 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-2, firing 42 aces along the way.

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