Djokovic, Murray, Nadal cruise at Cincy tennis

CINCINNATI, Ohio: World number one Novak Djokovic barely broke a sweat Wednesday as he routed American Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3 to breeze into the third round of the ATP and WTA hardcourt...

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AFP
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Djokovic, Murray, Nadal cruise at Cincy tennis
CINCINNATI, Ohio: World number one Novak Djokovic barely broke a sweat Wednesday as he routed American Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3 to breeze into the third round of the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament.

The Serb and reigning Wimbledon champ continued his near perfect summer of tennis and is now 54-1 in singles matches this season.

"I was happy with the way I played so overall it has been a good performance," said Djokovic who won in Montreal last week for his ninth career singles title.

"I am a more confident player now and I have more belief that I can win the big matches. I feel much more complete than I was last couple of years."

In other matches involving top seeded men on Wednesday, Britain's Andy Murray defeated Argentina's David Nalbandian, 6-4, 6-1 and second seed Rafael Nadal beat qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4, 7-5 despite having to play with two fingers on his right hand in bandages after burning them on a hot plate.

On the women's side, top ranked Caroline Wozniacki was upset for the second straight week, losing to unheralded American Christine McHale 6-4, 7-5 and American veteran Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament ahead of her second-round match due to a foot problem.

Djokovic needed just 76 minutes to dispatch Harrison, hitting three aces and winning 73 percent of his first serves.

The 19-year-old Harrison lost his cool several times during the match and was given a warning by the chair umpire in the second set for smashing balls into the crowd.

He had six aces but served poorly, winning just 50 percent of his first serve points.

Murray beat Nalbandian for the third consecutive time after losing the first two career matches against the Argentinian.

Murray easily advanced to the third round where he will face American Alex Bogomolov who beat Jo-Winfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4.

Murray broke Nalbandian's serve six times and fired five aces, spending just 77 minutes on the court.

World number one Wozniacki's disappointing US Open preparations continued Wednesday as she crashed out. The 21-year-old Dane's loss resembled her collapse last week in Toronto, where she went out in the second round after letting a 5-1 lead slip away in the second set.

Williams' withdrawal allowed Australian world number 10 Samantha Stosur -- who lost to the American in the Toronto final on Sunday -- to advance to a third-round contest with Chinese world number five Li Na.