Rafael Nadal plays a forehand against Rogerio Dutra Silva during the 2013 US Open men's singles second round match on Thursday in New York. Photo: CFP

 Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer moved closer to a first-ever US Open meeting with second-round triumphs on Thursday while women's top seeds Serena Williams and ­Victoria Azaranka also advanced.

Spanish second seed Nadal, a 12-time Grand Slam winner who has nine titles since returning from a seven-month injury layoff in February, beat Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 92 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I was solid with my serve," said Nadal, who hit 69 percent of his first serves. "I played well. I started a little slower but when the match was coming on I felt I played better and better. I am ­trying to play more aggressive."

Swiss 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer, who is seeded­ seventh, his lowest spot at the US Open since 2002, fired 37 winners in beating Argentina's­ 48th-ranked Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 after 95 minutes.

"I was pretty comfortable out there, so that was a good sign," Federer said. "It's one of those matches I expect myself to win in straight sets and gain confidence in the process. All those things happened so I'm pleased about it."

Federer, who swept the New York hard-court crowns from 2004 to 2008, and Nadal, whose 2010 US Open title completed a career Grand Slam, could meet for the first time at the US Open in the quarterfinals.

On the women's side, defending champion Williams downed 77th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva 6-3, 6-0, and Belarus second seed Azarenka beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-1.

But Italian fourth seed Sara Errani made a tearful exit, the 2012 US Open semifinalist and French Open runner-up falling to friend and compatriot Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1.

After being eliminated in the second round in July at Wimbledon in his earliest Grand Slam exit since the 2003 French Open, Federer is going for more than a simple showdown with Nadal in the Flushing Meadows fortnight.

Eight-time French Open champion Nadal, 27, will next risk his career-best 17-match hard court win streak against Croatian Ivan Dodig, who is 1-1 all-time against Nadal and upset him in their most recent meeting in the second round at Montreal in 2011 by winning a third-set tie-breaker.

Federer, 32, next faces Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who defeated US 26th seed Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4. Federer won both of their prior meetings in the 2011 second round at Paris and Wimbledon.

Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer and French eighth seed Richard Gasquet kept rolling toward their own potential quarterfinal by beating countrymen, Ferrer dispatching Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 and Gasquet dumping Stephane Robert 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

World No.1 Williams, who would become the oldest US Open women's champion at 31 if she repeats, advanced­ her quest for a 17th Grand Slam title and fifth Open crown with ease. She faces Russian-born Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova next.

Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka, who beat Williams earlier in August in the final at Cincinnati, booked a match against French 26th seed Alize Cornet for a spot in the last 16.

AFP - Global Times