Nadal and Venus both advance, while Safin bows out
- 00:01:00
- ITN
Nadal and Venus both advance, while Safin bows out
Defending champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams are both through to the third round of the US Open. Federer won his second-round match against Germany's Simon Greul 6-3 7-5 7-5 to set up a clash with 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt. Williams continued her blistering progress in the competition with a quickfire victory over Melinda Czink, beating the Hungarian 6-1 6-1. Her sister Venus has also booked her place in the last 16 of the competition at Flushing Meadows beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 6-2. Meanwhile, the men's third seed Rafael Nadal eased past France's Richard Gasquet in straight sets, showing no signs of the knee problems which have plagued him recently as he set up a third-round encounter with Nicolas Kiefer of Germany. Elsewhere, former champion Marat Safin bid farewell to major tournaments with a 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 defeat by Austrian Juergen Melzer. "It's the end and the last one," Safin said. "Could have been a better ending but still okay. No regrets. I don't care about losses anymore." The 29-year-old Russian, who won the 2000 US Open and was once the world's top-ranked player, has already announced plans to retire at the end of the year.
ITN | September 3, 2009
