Nadal crushes Dolgopolov

Rafael Nadal easily returned to the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in four years by routing Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 yesterday.

Nadal turned in his most powerful performance yet on a dominant day for the No. 1 seeds, and moved a victory away from a potential semifinal showdown with longtime rival Roger Federer.

Shortly after top-seeded Karolina Pliskova overwhelmed American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 6-0 in just 47 minutes, Nadal punished an opponent who had beaten him in two of the previous three meetings.

He never gave the unseeded Dolgopolov a chance yesterday, breaking serve six times in the 1 hour, 41 minute match.

Nadal hadn’t reached the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows since the last of his two US Open titles in 2013. He advanced to face No. 9 David Goffin or unseeded teenager Andrey Rublev.

Nadal had dropped the first set in the two previous rounds but he was locked in from the start of his 50th US Open victory, never losing serve and facing just two break points.

Andrey Rublev beat no. 9 seed David Goffin 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to become, at 19, the youngest male US Open quarterfinalist since Andy Roddick reached the round in 2001.

Rublev next faces top-seeded Nadal. The Russian entered the top 50 for first time in late July.