Andy Murray races into US Open third round with Ivan Dodig victory

Andy Murray

Britain's Andy Murray eased into the third round of the US Open for the seventh consecutive year with a straight-sets victory over Ivan Dodig.

He outclassed the unseeded Croatian 6-2 6-1 6-3 in a hugely one-sided match lasting an hour and 50 minutes.

Murray, 25, followed up his erratic first-round win over Alex Bogomolov Jr with a clinical display on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He will meet Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the last 32.

The third seed produced 10 aces and 30 winners and said afterwards that he was pleased to have improved on his patchy opening performance against Bogomolov.

"It was better than the first round, that's for sure. It was pretty comfortable conditions out there. There wasn't really any wind, it was fairly cool as well. That helped," said Murray.

"I moved better than I did in the first match and served better, and I was able to dictate more of the points because of that. I was much happier with the way I played."

Dodig, who was on the verge of breaking into the world's top 30 before a back problem hindered his progress and caused him to plummet to 118th in the rankings, rarely troubled the Scot.

And Murray admitted he had done his homework on his opponent by watching footage of the Croatian over the last few days.

"I knew he liked to come forward a lot. When I saw him coming into the net, I tried to move forward in the court and managed to chase down a few of the drop volleys," he said.

"When you're expecting something, it makes it much easier to play against.

"When he first came on the tour, not many guys will have seen him. When someone serve-volleys and comes into the net a lot, it's tough nowadays, you don't see it that often."

An aggressive Murray, playing close to the baseline, broke the Dodig serve six times, the first of which was in the third game of the opening set when his opponent sent a wayward forehand long.

The Olympic champion broke the Croatian's serve again for a 5-2 lead and comfortably served out for the set before breaking again at the start of the second set when a double fault, followed by a misjudged forehand, gifted the game to Murray.

Within 70 minutes the British number one had a two-set advantage and victory never seemed in doubt, especially after he broke early in the third for a 3-1 lead.

Dodig squandered two break points in the seventh game, his erratic forehand once again proving his downfall, and it proved to be the 27-year-old's only sniff as Murray served out for victory.

"When I was a kid I came to watch [Justine] Henin and [Kim] Clijsters in the final. I always wanted to play night matches here and I love it," added Murray.

"The conditions are nice. It's a good atmosphere to play in. There's a good energy on the court, that's why I've played well."