NEW YORK: Rafael Nadal’s bid for a career Grand Slam and Andy Murray’s quest for his first Grand Slam title moved a step closer to a U.S. Open semifinal collision course with impressive triumphs on Friday.

Reigning women’s champion Kim Clijsters breezed into the last 16 along with U.S. third seed Venus Williams, whose injured World No. 1 sister Serena was on hand to watch her elder sibling for the first time this week.

Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal defeated 39th-ranked Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-6(5), 7-5 to reach a third round match against France’s Gilles Simon, who beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

The top seed and Spanish World No. 1, trying to become only the seventh man to complete a career Grand Slam by winning his first U.S. Open title, won the last six points of the tie-breaker and saved all seven break points he faced.

Lucky

“I was a little bit lucky in the tie-breaker of the second set. That’s the truth,” Nadal said. “He was playing really well. I started the match really well, kept working all the time.

British fourth seed Murray sent off Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 in a match halted about 20 minutes due to rain from nearby Hurricane Earl, which brushed the U.S. eastern coast and brought brisk, swirling winds to the U.S. Open.

“It was windy so you had to get on and off the court as quickly as possible and I managed to get that done,” Murray said.

Next for Murray is Swiss 25th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who beat Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

Belgian second seed Clijsters improved her U.S. Open winning streak to 17 matches, including her only Grand Slam title runs from 2005 and 2009, taking the last 12 games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Czech Wimbledon semifinalist Petra Kvitova.

Clijsters, who faces former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the fourth round, fell behind 0-3 in 11 minutes before solving the winds.

“I just had to adjust and get used to the wind. It was tough,” Clijsters said. “I was glad after those first three games I could get my serve going.

Ivanovic moves up

Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner who has slid to 40th in the rankings, won the last nine games to oust French wildcard Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0 and match her best U.S. Open run from 2007.

“I’m playing a lot better,” Ivanovic said. “Things are starting to come back together out on the court as well, so I’m really thrilled about that. It has been tough. But I’m really happy I managed to stay strong in those times and just push through it, work hard and actually believe I can do it.”

Venus downed Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella 6-2, 6-1. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus, the last woman to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles, will face Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer for a quarterfinal berth.

Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone reached the fourth round by beating Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 7-5 with help from a Roger Federer-style between-the-legs running from the net shot in the 10th game of the last set.

“Is nothing programmed. Is just instinct. Is art,” Schiavone said. “Is something that’s coming from inside and you have just to take in a good timing otherwise the ball fly.

U.S. men’s hopefuls Sam Querrey and John Isner, who could face Murray in the round of 16 and quarterfinals respectively, delighted American fans with wins.

Querrey, seeded 20th, beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 while Wimbledon marathon man Isner ousted Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.

Heartbreak for Harrison

But 18-year-old qualifier Ryan Harrison suffered a heartbreaking ouster, squandering three match points in a fifth-set tie-breaker to help Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky win 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6).

Also reaching the third round was Argentina’s David Nalbandian, who missed the previous six Grand Slams with injuries but reached the third round by beating Frenchman Florent Serra 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi progressed to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a straight-set win over German-Finn pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen.

Bopanna and Qureshi, seeded 16th, defeated their opponents 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the season’s last Grand Slam.

The Wimbledon quarterfinalists are up against second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the round of 16.

In the mixed doubles event, last year’s finalists Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe moved to the second round after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak. — Agencies