Svetlana Kuznetsova booked her place in the third round of the US Open after a straight sets victory over Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea.

The third seed was pushed all the way by the Romanian in the first set, but, having taken it on a tie-break, ran away with the second as she closed out a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 triumph.

Kuznetsova will now face either Slovenian 28th seed Katarina Srebotnik or Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in the next round.

World number 53 Cirstea made a solid start to the match and, after the first five games had gone with serve, had her opponent in trouble as she secured the first break to move 4-2 ahead.

Crucial break
However, she could not maintain her advantage and Kuznetsova crucially broke straight back as the set headed into a breaker.

Both players instantly exchanged mini-breaks before the Russian took a stranglehold on proceedings, reeling off five straight points to move to set-point.

Cristea fought off the first two on her own serve, but a crisp delivery from Kuznetsova ended her resistance and closed out the set.

The Romanian's spirit broken, the third seed breezed clear in the second set as she found her range with some powerful groundstrokes.

Kuznetsova looked set to make it a clean sweep but after losing a game for the first time she brought the match to its conclusion in the next, sealing victory by putting away a smash from a half-court return.


Struggling seed
Jelena Jankovic also reached the next round of the final Grand Slam event of the season, though she was given an almighty scare by Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson.

The second seed appeared to be strolling through when she won the first set 6-3 and then twice gave herself opportunities to serve out the match in the second.

However, she failed to make the most of her chances, allowing Arvidsson to battle back and level matters by winning a tie break 7-5 after being 3-0 down.

The deciding set saw Jankovic once again take control, a break giving her a 3-0 advantage against the world number 63.

Yet she still made hard work of finishing the job off, a double fault giving the break back in the seventh game before Jankovic eventually triumphed 7-5.


Davenport win
In the evening match, Lindsay Davenport used her experience to notch a 7-5 6-3 win over Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova.

Davenport, champion at Flushing Meadows in 1998, capitalised on 27 unforced errors from Kleybanova to book her place in the third round.

"I didn't play quite as well as I did the other day (in the first round)," said the 32-year-old, who missed last year's US Open while on maternity leave.

"Didn't find my rhythm but sometimes you just have to get through these matches. I'm ecstatic to be in the third round."

Davenport, seeded 23rd, will next face Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.