Sharjah24 - AFP: Rafael Nadal defeated close friend Richard Gasquet for the 18th time to reach the US Open fourth round on Saturday as world number one Iga Swiatek made the last 16 for a second successive year.
Four-time champion Nadal took his record over Gasquet to a perfect 18-0 with a 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 victory to stay on course for a 23rd Grand Slam title.
Nadal has now won 34 straight sets against Frenchman Gasquet who he first played as a junior.
On Saturday, he was barely troubled, winning the first nine games of the contest before Gasquet got on the board.
Next up for the Australian and French Open champion is 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe for a place in the quarter-finals.
"He's a great player, very charismatic, very fast," said Nadal of the American.
Tiafoe made the last 16 for a third successive year by seeing off Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-4.
The 36-year-old Nadal showed no ill effects of the bloodied nose he suffered when he accidentally bounced his racquet into his face in the second round.
"It's a little bit bigger than usual but it's okay," he joked.
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