Europe 1 with AFP 08:30, September 04, 2022

Rafael Nadal was ruthless with Richard Gasquet whom he swept in the third round of the US Open, inflicting on the Frenchman an 18th defeat in as many confrontations.

As for Clara Burel's superb career, it came to an abrupt end in the third round: the Frenchwoman found herself powerless against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

Rafael Nadal, after two bumpy first rounds, picked up the pace at the US Open on Saturday, giving Richard Gasquet an ordeal for a long time, to reach the round of 16, imitated by the phenomenon Carlos Alcaraz and the world N.1 Iga Swiatek .

The Spaniard, 3rd in the world, won 6-0, 6-1, 7-5, inflicting on his favorite victim his 18th defeat in as many confrontations.

The heaviest also in Grand Slam, the level of that which the Frenchman had conceded at Roland-Garros in 2015 against Novak Djokovic (6-1, 6-2, 6-3).

And again, if Gasquet was able to score six games in this meeting, it was at the cost of a last stand in the third set, during which he finally let go of his shots.

Nadal, who finally saw a little adversity manifest itself, made sure not to let Gasquet have hopes of a comeback, after his break at 2-2.

A hooked sleeve, ultimately more useful than the two previous ones in terms of fine-tuning the settings.

"My best game"

"It's my best match of the tournament, there have been a lot of improvements, I've raised my level of play, it's important," said the Mallorcan, who wants to bring his record of Grand Prix titles to 23. Slam and will have for opponent in the next round the American Frances Tiafoe (26th), scorer of the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (16th).

Another satisfaction: he was in no way bothered by his nose, injured Thursday evening by his racket after an unfortunate rebound.

"He's a little bigger than usual, but he's still there, okay," he joked.

Earlier, his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz also put himself in express mode, to send 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 the American Jenson Brooksby (43rd), confirming his status as a contender for the title.

"I played very, very well. At a high level", welcomed the 19-year-old Spaniard (4th), who will face in 8th the Croatian Marin Cilic (17th and winner in 2014), winner of the Briton Daniel Evans (23rd).

Last year, for his first participation, Alcaraz revealed himself in New York where he reached the quarter-finals, after notably dismissing the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in a memorable match.

This year, he confirmed his emergence, winning four tournaments including the Masters 1000 in Miami and Madrid.

Swiatek not in the rhythm

Like him, Cameron Norrie (9th) has still not lost a set in New York.

The 27-year-old Briton, semi-finalist at Wimbledon, reached the round of 16 for the first time at Flushing Meadows, easily beating Dane Holger Rune (33rd) 7-5, 6-4, 6-1.

He will be opposed to the Russian Andrey Rublev (11th), who had to fight more than four hours to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-6 (10/7) Canadian Denis Shapovalov (21st).

Among the women, the day after the elimination of Serena Williams, recording the retirement of the legendary player at 23 Grand Slams, things resumed their course and the world No.1 Iga Swiatek had to work a little to defeat 6 -3, 6-4 the American Lauren Davis (105th).

After a first set won quite calmly, the Pole, winner at Roland-Garros for the second time in June, then had more difficulty containing her opponent, who led 4-1.

Swiatek then recovered, lining up five games in a row to win in less than two hours.

"It was a difficult match, I couldn't really find my rhythm," said the one who will face the German Julie Niemeier (108th) to try to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in her career.

Among the other notable qualifiers, Petra Kvitova (21st) after a superb duel won 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (12/10) against the Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza (10th).

The Czech, champion at Wimbledon in 2014, will face the American Jessica Pegula (8th).

Victoria Azarenka (26th) will challenge the Czech Karolina Pliskova (22nd).