Nadal rolls quietly into round of 16

AFTER his US Open title defence was cut short last year because of injury, perhaps an easy first week was exactly what Rafael Nadal needed.

On the other hand, it could leave the second seed underprepared for the tougher times ahead as he almost invisibly slipped into the round of 16.

“You never know what’s better or worse, no?” 18-time grand slam champion Nadal said.

He was back on the court yesterday for the first time in five days, beating Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round for his 13thstraight grand slam tournament.

Nadal hadn’t played since Wednesday, when he beat John Millman in straight sets in the opening round, after he got an unscheduled day off on Friday when Thanasi Kokkinakis had to pull out with a shoulder injury.

He next plays 2014 champion Marin Cilic and then possibly sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals.

Cilic, the 22nd seed, mixed 21 aces with an astonishing 17 double faults in his 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 win over 14th-seeded John Isner.

On Louis Armstrong Stadium, Zverev toughed out a 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win over Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in a match that lasted more than three-and-a-half hours.

The German will next play Argentine Diego Schwartzman after the 20th seed rolled past Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. French 13th seed Gael Monfils outlasted Denis Shapovalov 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 to advance to a meeting with unseeded Spaniard Pablo Andujar.