Big names triumph at US Open

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BACK AT YOU: Andy Murray, of Great Britain, hits a forehand return against Dustin Brown of Jamaica during his men's singles match on day five of the 2010 US Open.

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World number one Rafael Nadal has turned the tables in a dramatic second-set tiebreaker on his way to a 6-2 7-6 7-5 victory over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan to reach the third round of the US Open.

Top-seeded Nadal trailed 5-1 in the second-set decider after a spectacular point by the 39th-ranked Istomin, who left a long skid mark and finished with his legs split after a dash to hit a winner off a delicate drop shot from the Spaniard.

After joining the roaring Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd in applauding Istomin's efforts, Nadal claimed the next six points to win the tiebreaker and then broke serve in the last game of the match to keep on track for the only grand slam title to elude him.

However, Nadal, 24, tried to downplay his quest to complete the career grand slam.

"If I can win this tournament it would be a dream," the Spaniard said. "But I'm five matches away. I don't think about winning this tournament right now."

The match featured a slew of exciting rallies as blistering serves, not entirely unexpected since the pair battled through three tough sets including a tiebreaker at Queen's, in which Nadal prevailed before capturing the Wimbledon crown.

"He was playing really well, I think," Nadal told the crowd after the hard-fought win against Istomin, who was a finalist in last week's hardcourt event.

"He had a very good tournament last week in New Haven. He is with confidence. Today, I was a little bit lucky in the tiebreaker of the second set."

Nadal, showing off an impressively potent serve that reached 134 miles per hour (216 kph) and produced eight aces, never allowed a break point in the first set, while cracking Istomin's in the fifth and seventh games.

The second set stayed on serve to set up a tiebreak.

The Spaniard, who won two tiebreakers in his first-round win against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia, looked doomed in the decider after Istomin's show-stopping winner to go ahead 5-1.

But Istomin got a little careless and Nadal, after benefiting from a net cord that thwarted his opponent, tied it at 5-5 and then delivered a sizzling service winner before winning the set when Istomin sailed a backhand long.

Nadal avoided another tiebreaker in the third set with a service break in the final game thanks to two groundstroke errors by Istomin.

"My serve keeps working well," said Nadal, who didn't lose serve in notching his 16th grand slam match win in a row.

Up next for the French Open and Wimbledon champion will be Gilles Simon of France, who beat 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in five sets to advance.

- Reuters