Before a rain suspension, French Nicolas Mahut scored a comfortable win over fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu to reach the third round in Flushing Meadows.
34 year-old Nicolas Mahut dominated an all-French battle against Paul Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-4 6-2 in 1 hour and 57 minutes of play. The serve-and-volley specialist Mahut fired 17 aces (41 winners in total) and won the 72% of service points, saving all the five break points faced, while Mathieu was broken four times. Reaching the third round, he marks his best-ever result at the Us Open in singles.
“It is never easy to play against a friend like Paulo, but I am really, really happy with the way I played this match and with the sensations I had on court.” said Mahut.
He will face Japan’s Kei Nishikori or Russia’s Karen Khachanov next.
Also, American player has Eric Butorac played his last men’s doubles match, as he and Scott Lipsky fell to seventh seeds Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen 6-3 6-4. The 35 year-old Butorac will play the Us Open mixed doubles tournament before retiring from professional tennis. He holds a best ranking of 17 in doubles (2011) and of 935 in singles (2006).
