Top seed Rafael Nadal goes into his third round match with Viktor Troicki of Serbia at the US Open later tonight extremely pleased at his progress thus far.
Nadal ripped returns on serves, laced passing shots, and crafted crisp volleys in a dynamic performance to beat Ryler DeHeart 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.
"I did well," said Nadal. "I am happy to be in the third round, for me this is a very important tournament."
Nadal, who has won eight titles this season including his fourth French Open crown and first Wimbledon trophy, has never made it past the quarter-finals at the US Open and hasn't made it to a hardcourt Grand Slam final.
But he looked poised to make a run in 2008 as he smacked 21 forehand winners and made just 11 unforced errors in the one hour, 40 minute night session match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
"The most important thing is I finished quickly so I could get to bed early," said Nadal.
The 22-year-old Nadal became the first Spanish tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games earlier this month.