Rafael Nadal avoided any more on-court mishaps as he defeated Richard Gasquet for the 18th consecutive time to move through to the fourth round of the US Open.
The former junior rivals first played at tour level back in 2004 and Nadal has won every encounter across 18 years.
Gasquet has not won a set since 2008 and for more than an hour even a game was beyond him. He eventually stopped the rot at 6-0 3-0, accepting the crowd’s acclaim, and at least made a fight of it in the third before going down 6-0 6-1 7-5.
