US Open 2011 Results: Nadal, Murray Advance to Round of 32

The two top-ranked players in the men's draw were in action on Friday. Both advanced to the third round, but in very different ways.

Both have to feel good about their chances to compete moving forward.

Nadal vs. Mahut

Nicolas Mahut had to retire after the second set against Rafael Nadal and he wasn't playing all that well when he was on the court.

Nadal was dictating the pace and controlled the match from the very start. This match amounted to little more than a briskly-paced practice for Nadal, but that's just what he needed.

Storyline

The final score line wouldn't lead you to believe it, but Nadal's first-round match against Andrey Golubev pushed him quite a bit. Golubev was serving well and putting away winners left and right.

With that in mind, Nadal was looking for a much easier match and he got it from the injured Mahut. Mahut, whose wife just had a baby, will be headed home to spend time with his new bundle of joy.

What's Next For Nadal?

Nadal will move on to face David Nalbandian in the third round. Nalbandian will be by far the best player Nadal has seen in this tournament, but he is not the player he once was.

Two or three years ago, this would have been a really competitive match, but Nadal has improved his play on hard courts and Nalbandian has been plagued with injury after injury.

Murray vs. Haase

This match gave tennis fans the most competitive and most heated match of the day. The final score line tells you all you need to know about how this match went. It reads: 6-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4.

Murray let Haase dictate the pace early on and it showed in the results of the first two sets. Things changed in the third and fourth sets as the air seemed to be let out of Haase's balloon.

Down 0-4 in the fifth set, Haase mounted a furious comeback that fell just short.

Storyline

Murray certainly expected to be pushed by the hard-hitting Dutchman, but he probably didn't expect it to be that tough.

This match displayed how fickle a tennis player's psyche can be. Both players went through stretches where they looked like they wanted to be anywhere but on the court. Both also had times where they seemed unable to miss.

What's Next For Murray?

Murray will move on to face Feliciano Lopez, a player not too dissimilar to Haase. Lopez, a lefty, is a big server who will try to end points quickly. That's easier said than done against a player that plays defense as well as Murray.

Murray is a battler who thrives in matches like the one he had Friday. Rather than wearing him down, expect this result to propel him forward to bigger things in this tournament.