Andy Murray vs. Florian Mayer: Score and Recap from 2013 US Open

Defending U.S. Open men's champion Andy Murray reached the round of 16 at the season's final Grand Slam for the third straight year after comfortably beating Germany's Florian Mayer in straight sets on Sunday, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-2, according to U.S. Open on Twitter:

Much like Murray's previous two opponents, Mayer, who has never beaten Murray, had no answer for the top-ranked Briton. Even when Mayer tried to come to the net to shorten points, he was turned away by superior shots.

Mayer would win just 21-of-39 total net points for the match. Murray won 8-of-12 net points.

The No. 3 seed in the men's draw, Murray will take on Denis Istomin in the round of 16 later this week. But he won't have to face a player seeded higher than him until the semifinals potentially, where he would likely match up with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Looking back on Sunday's victory, it didn't seem as if Murray would have such an easy time in the early goings. He and Mayer went back and forth in the opening set, each player holding serve through the first 12 games to force an early tiebreaker. 

But things turned in the tiebreaker, as Murray quickly showed why he's the defending champion, jumping out to an early lead that he would turn into a one-set-to-love lead.

After breaking Mayer's will in the tiebreaker, Murray had a much easier time in the second set, winning 87 percent of his first-serve points and 10 out of 22 receiving points to wrap up the second frame in 30 minutes. The world No. 3 broke his opponent twice in the second set and finished with 14 winners to just one for Mayer.

Another early break in the third set put Murray in position to serve out the match, but he wouldn't need to, as he broke Mayer in the final game to finish up the third set 6-2.

The victory is Murray's 28th in his past 30 Grand Slam matches, per ESPN Tennis on Twitter:

Murray lost in the 2012 Wimbledon final before going 7-0 in Flushing Meadows to win the 2012 U.S. Open, the first major title of his career. He lost in the final of the 2013 Australian Open, missed the 2013 French Open with a bad back, and won Wimbledon earlier this summer. 

To put Murray's dominance into proper perspective, he has reached the final at each of the past four majors he's participated in going back to 2012 Wimbledon, winning two titles over that time.

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