Rafael Nadal ousted American Ryler De Heart 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round at the US Open last night.

Taking over as the world No 1 from Roger Federer, Nadal has been on a roll in 2008, capturing his fourth straight French Open title, grabbing the crown at Wimbledon and taking the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. He also has won five other titles this year. But few tournaments have given Nadal more trouble than the US Open.

The left-hander has never advanced further than the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows and was eliminated in the fourth round last year - Nadal's worst showing at a grand slam in the last three years.

Nadal, who was known as a clay-court specialist before his domination this year, looked comfortable on the hardcourt against the inexperienced De Heart. Despite dropping the first two sets, De Heart did not seem intimidated, winning the first three games of the third before getting overwhelmed by Nadal's superior talent. De Heart played with an incredible enthusiasm and quickly won over the crowd, which included his fiancee and former college coach - who each gave him a standing ovation despite the loss.

Nadal needed to survive an early test in the first round, defeating German Bjorn Phau 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 on Monday. In the next round, Nadal will face Viktor Troicki, who advanced when Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury. Troicki was leading 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-0 when the match was halted.

While Nadal has had two easy matches so far, James Blake had a much easier time in yesterday's match than he did in the opening round. The ninth-seeded American advanced to the third round of this year's final major, when Belgian Steve Darcis retired in the third set with Blake leading 4-6, 6-3, 1-0.

A quarter-finalist in 2005 and 2006, Blake was eliminated in the fourth round at the US Open last year and the 28-year-old has yet to make it past the quarters in any major during his career but has enjoyed the most success in this event. Up next for Blake is countryman Mardy Fish, who upset 24th-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded David Ferrer defeated German Andreas Beck 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6. The world No 4, who reached the semi-finals a year ago, will now face Japan's Kei Nishikori, who won the first two sets 6-1, 7-5 against Roko Karanusic before the Croatian retired.

David Nalbandian of Argentina defeated Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev while Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland advanced with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 victory over American Wayne Odesnik.