Nadal cruises, Murray survives, three top seeds fall on Day 6

Top seed Rafael Nadal continued his hot summer on Saturday, defeating young Serb Victor Troicki, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0, to advance to his third consecutive fourth round at the US Open. There, Nadal will meet 20-year-old American Sam Querrey, who scored one of four major upsets on the day, taking out No. 14 seed Ivo Karlovic in three sets. Querrey met Nadal in the first round of the Masters Series Cincinnati event in 2006, and the then-18-year-old took Nadal to three sets before losing in just his 13th career ATP level match.

Other seeds falling were No. 4 David Ferrer to 18-year-old rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori, No. 7 David Nalbandian to No. 32 Gael Monfils, No. 9 James Blake to buddy Mardy Fish, and No. 16 Gilles Simon to the No. 17 seed and red hot Juan Martin Del Potro. Nishikori, a surprise winner at Delray Beach earlier this year, will next face Del Potro, a winner of 22 consecutive matches. Fish, who just defeated his soon-to-be groomsman, will now face Monfils who literally danced past Nalbandian, just like he did at the Olympics. Monfils, despite six double faults, advanced and looks to repeat his success at Roland Garros, where he was a semifinalist earlier in the year.

In one of the top matches of the day, No. 6 Andy Murray (pictured) outmuscled Jurgen Melzer for the second time this summer, but this time from two sets to love down. Murray took a close third set from Melzer, but rolled rather routinely in the fourth and fifth sets. Murray now faces No. 10 seed Stanislas Wawrinka who also came from behind to earn a win on Saturday.

Day 6 results:
No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Victor Troicki (SRB) 6-4, 6-3, 6-0
Kei Nishikori (JPN) def. No. 4 David Ferrer (ESP) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5
No. 6 Andy Murray (GBR) def. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)

6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3
No. 32 Gael Monfils (FRA) def. No. 7 David Nalbandian (ARG)

6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Mardy Fish (USA) def. No. 9 James Blake (USA) 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) def. Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-0, 6-4
Sam Querrey (USA) def. No. 14 Ivo Karlovic (CRO)

7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2
No. 17 Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) def. No. 16 Gilles Simon (FRA)

6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3