NEW YORK - Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic cruised into the third round of the US Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Swede Sofia Arvidsson under sunny skies in Arthur Ashe Stadium Thursday. The 13th seeded Ivanovic, who broke Arvidsson's serve six times, needed only 64 minutes to advance while defeating her 28-year-old rival for the fourth time in five career meetings. In the third round, Ivanovic will either face American Sloane Stephens or German qualifier Tatjana Malek. Ivanovic enjoyed a 39-7 advantage in winners, as Arvidsson's groundstrokes did little to offset the arsenal of her 24-year-old Serbian opponent trying to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time at Flushing Meadows. In other matches, Maria Kirilenko of Russia defeated Greta Arn of Hungary 6-3, 6-2; Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain 6-4, 6-2 and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia downed Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3). In the men's section, Kei Nishikori of japan moved into the third round after beating Tim Smyczek of the US 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Kim Clijsters' illustrious singles career drew to an emotional close Wednesday when the former world No. 1 was knocked out of the second round by Britain's Laura Robson. Robson's compatriot Andy Murray later made light work of Croatia's Ivan Dodig to reach the third round but it was the 7-6, 7-6 defeat of Belgian Clijsters that grabbed the attention as the first significant upset of the tournament. Murray's 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 second round victory completed the third consecutive night of uncompetitive matches on the showcase Arthur Ashe Stadium. The big names have won six matches in prime time for the loss of only 24 games. Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic earlier survived a major scare against Guillaume Rufin to be one of nine men to recover from two-set deficits in the opening round. Clijsters, three-time a US Open champion, remains in the doubles and mixed doubles but the loss to Robson was her final singles match before she quits the tour to concentrate on family life. She saved two match points in the 12th game of the second set with a searing forehand volley and a huge first serve. The tiebreak was tense as Clijsters fought to extend her career but Robson, the world No. 89 playing with fearless aggression and pinpoint accuracy, converted her third match point and it was all over for the 29-year-old. Clijsters walked away from the sport once before, in May 2007, then returned after a 2 1/2-year hiatus. “I have played some of my best tennis here and some of my best matches,” Clijsters said. “It is a place that has inspired me. This feels like the perfect place to retire - but I just wish it wasn't today. “I fought and gave it my all but just wasn't good enough in the end. “It's been a great adventure. It's all been worth it but I'm looking forward to the next part of my life.” Robson paid tribute to Clijsters in an on-court interview. “I was just trying to play as well as I could because if I didn't, I knew Kim would completely dominate,” Robson said. “I want to say thanks to Kim for being such a great role model for so many years. I have grown up watching you play and it has been an honour to finally play against you.” Other matches Wednesday went mostly to script, the only mild surprises involving lower seeds. Defending champion Sam Stosur recorded a routine 6-3, 6-0 win over Edina Gallovits-Hall. Russia's third seed Maria Sharapova trounced Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-1 in the first of two night matches. In the men's draw, fourth-seeded David Ferrer disposed of Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 and local hope John Isner won a high-quality clash with Xavier Malisse 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6. Ernests Gulbis defeated 21st seed Tommy Haas 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 and Gilles Muller snuck home for a 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 7-6 defeat of 28th seed Mikhail Youzhny to join Tipsarevic in the band of players who have come back from the brink. Former men's champion Juan Martin del Potro as well as top women Petra Kvitova and Li Na all progressed with routine victories. — Agencies
