Federer keeps 18th Slam hopes alive

Second-seed Roger Federer served up a tidy 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over big-hitting Australian Sam Groth to ease into the third round of the US Open and continue his march towards an 18th grand slam title.

Federer has feasted on Australian opponents in grand slams over the years, piling up an 18-1 record against men from Down Under, and Groth, who was facing a top 10 opponent for the first time, proved little more than a distraction to the Swiss maestro.

The Swiss will next face Spain’s Marcel Granollers, a 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 winner over 25th seed Ivo Karlovic.

Earlier, eighth-seed Andy Murray, who overcame cramping in his first-round victory, roared past unseeded German Matthias Bachinger in straight sets.

Murray, the 2012 US champion and 2013 Wimbledon winner, looked fresh and strong in cool, breezy conditions as he rolled to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium in his first meeting against the German.

Other results (selected):

Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-3
Gilles Simon (France) beat Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 6-4 3-6 7-5(0) 6-1
Richard Gasquet (France) beat Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3
David Ferrer (Spain) beat Bernard Tomic (Australia) walkover
Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-1 6-2 6-2
Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Tatsuma Ito (Japan) 6-4 3-6 6-4 7-6(4)
Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) 7-6(2) 6-2 6-4
Gael Monfils (France) beat Alejandro Gonzalez (Colombia) 7-5 6-3 6-2
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Martin Klizan (Slovakia) 6-3 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-3