Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek continued their quests for US Open stardom with comfortable second-round wins on day three of the Grand Slam tournament at Flushing Meadows.
Following a straightforward three-set success over Frenchman Alexandre Muller, Djokovic took exactly two hours to put Bernabe Zapata Miralles to the sword 6-4 6-1 6-1.
After Djokovic edged a tight first set, the Spaniard managed to win his opening service games in both the second and third sets before being blown away by the 36-year-old's superiority.
Djokovic won six games on the bounce in the second set before stringing together a five-strong victorious streak in the third, completing the job with his 35th winner of the afternoon.
Zapata Miralles did bring up six chances to break Djokovic, but the world number 76 failed to convert any of them, and Djokovic will now face compatriot Laslo Djere in round three following the 32nd seed's 6-1 6-2 6-3 win over French qualifier Hugo Gaston.
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Meanwhile, Swiatek resumed the defence of her crown with a 6-3 6-4 triumph over Australia's Daria Saville, who broke the holder in the first game of the match but failed to build on that early surprise.
Swiatek broke back immediately before Saville also lost her serve from 40-0 up in the sixth game, but the Australian was digging in for a fight and also fought back to 2-2 after Swiatek won the first two games of the second set.
The Australian's valiant efforts were in vain, though, as a meagre 6% win rate on her second serve cost her dearly, and Swiatek produced a powerful forehand winner on match point to set up a third-round encounter with Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan.
The world number one could potentially meet former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in round four, but Great Britain's Yuriko Miyazaki will not be present in the latter stages courtesy of her loss to Belinda Bencic.
The 27-year-old - who overcame Margarita Betova for her first-ever Grand Slam win - was beaten 3-6 3-6 in exactly 90 minutes by the Swiss 15th seed, who stormed into a 3-0 lead in both sets and refused to relinquish her advantages.
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Miyazaki did earn one break back in the second set, but while serving to stay in the match, she was left to rue a spate of unforced errors as Bencic progressed to the third round.
Elsewhere in the women's section, Elena Rybakina advanced courtesy of a walkover win over Alja Tomljanovic - who cited an arm injury - while Coco Gauff overcame fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-2.
The returning Caroline Wozniacki also laid down a marker by eliminating 11th seed Petra Kvitova 7-5 7-6[5], but Magda Linette, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Victoria Azarenka were all knocked out.
There were some notable eliminations in the men's singles event too, as Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in five sets to Dominic Stricker, while Casper Ruud suffered another early Grand Slam exit, losing 4-6 7-5 2-6 6-0 2-6 to Zhang Zhizhen.
Zhizhen's win made him the first Chinese male player in the Open Era to reach multiple Grand Slam third rounds, while home favourites Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul - who came from two sets down to beat Roman Safiullin - also claimed victories.
Ben Knapton
