Birthday boy Thiem dominates Nagal to breeze into U.S. Open third round

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Second seed Dominic Thiem celebrated his 27th birthday with a commanding 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over India’s Sumit Nagal on Thursday to move into the third round of the U.S. Open.

Austrian Thiem, seeking his maiden Grand Slam title, won an overwhelming 74% of his first serve points and fired seven aces past the inexperienced Nagal, breaking him seven times in the two-hour contest.

Nagal became on Tuesday the first Indian in seven years to win a singles match at Flushing Meadows but the 23-year-old showed only flashes of brilliance in a one-sided clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Up next for Thiem, who was runner-up at the Australian Open this year, is 2014 champion Marin Cilic of Croatia who beat Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos 6-3 1-6 7-6(2) 7-5.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)