Nadal through, Ferrer falls

able to muster a rally to claim the third set, and came up big in the fifth after Melzer took off the fourth to conserve energy after dropping the first three games.

Gael Monfils of France had a much more impressive showing, using his superior athleticism to top seventh seed David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3 6-4 6-2.

The 21-year-old fired 12 aces and took advantage of 41 unforced errors by Nalbandian to set up a matchup with the winner between Blake and Fish.

In another match that went the full five sets, Stanislas Wawrinka came back from two sets down to top Italy's Flavio Cipolla 5-7 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-0 6-4. Wawrinka, who claimed gold at the Beijing Olympics in doubles with Federer, will meet Murray in the fourth round.

Also Saturday, 16th seed Gilles Simon of France was upended by number 17 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 3-6 6-3. Del Potro took another step toward winning his fifth straight tournament.

American James Blake fell at the hands of his close friend, Mardy Fish, who recorded a 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Blake was looking to advance to the fourth round of the US Open for the fourth straight year, but Fish had other plans, advancing past the third round in a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.