NEW YORK, Aug 30: Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round of the US Open on Wednesday but a knee injury could hamper his chances of dethroning top-ranked Roger Federer.

The Spaniard battled through the pain and an inspired performance by Australian Alun Jones before winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a two-hour, 45-minute affair at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Second seeded Nadal hurt his left knee during practice three days ago and had the trainer wrap the joint after his service was broken by Jones in the third set for a 4-3 deficit.

The 123rd-ranked Jones had 60 unforced errors in the match because he refused to take the safe route against the three-time French Open champion.

Federer eased forward in his bid for a fourth straight title by defeating Chile’s Paul Capdeville 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, setting up a third-round showdown with the hard-serving American John Isner.

Federer had 45 winners and only 11 unforced errors.

On the women’s side, Belgian top seed Justine Henin needed just over an hour to defeat Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-0 on a cool, sunny day at the National Tennis Centre.

Former champions Venus and Serena Williams both started slowly before hitting their stride and winning their second-round matches in straight sets.

Venus eased past Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2 while Serena defeated Italian Maria Elena Camerin 7-5, 6-2.

Third seeded Jelena Jankovic and No 5 Ana Ivanovic also advanced, moving closer to an all-Serbian match-up in the quarter-finals.

The major casualty of the day occurred on the men’s side when seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile was ousted by Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4.

Gonzalez, who made a rousing run to the Australian Open finals before losing to Federer, has lost his first match in the four summer hard court events he has played since reaching the third round at Wimbledon.

Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Second round: 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Paul Capdeville (Chile) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; John Isner (US) beat Rik De Voest (South Africa) 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); Tim Henman (Britain) beat 27-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) beat 7-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beat Ryan Sweeting (US) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Alun Jones (Australia) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Mardy Fish (US) beat Bruno Echagaray (Mexico) 6-4, 6-1, 6-2; 17-Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Bjoern Phau (Germany) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; 8-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Bobby Reynolds (US) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; Robby Ginepri (US) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-0, 6-3, 6-1; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3; Michael Berrer

(Germany) beat Michal Przysiezny (Poland) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) beat 30-Potito Starace (Italy) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 25-Marat Safin (Russia) beat Frank Dancevic (Canada) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7); 11-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Nicolas Devilder (France) 6-0, 6-1, 6-2; Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

Second round: 8 -Serena Williams (US) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 7-5, 6-2; 27-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 6-4, 6-2; Ahsha Rolle (US) beat Karin Knapp (Italy) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; 3-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Olga Govortsova (Belarus) 6-2, 6-2; 20-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 6-3, 6-3; 15-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1; Alize Cornet (France) beat Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-2, 6-1; 10-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Sara Errani (Italy) 6-4, 6-2; 21-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-4, 6-0; 12-Venus Williams (US) beat Ioana Raluca Olaru (Romania) 6-4, 6-2; 14-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat 28-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Vera Dushevina (Russia) beat Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) 6-4, 6-3; 19-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 6-4, 6-3; 5-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Aravane Rezai (France) 6-3, 6-1.—Reuters