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Game foe makes Nadal work for it

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Denis Istomin left skid marks on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court, stark evidence of how hard he was trying.

Istomin, a 23-year-old from Uzbekistan who is coached by his mother, drew applause from his opponent, Rafael Nadal three times after smacking extraordinary winners.

And yet it was the maestro Nadal, the world’s top-ranked player and the top-seeded man at the U.S. Open, who accepted a standing ovation at the end of his 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 second-round victory Friday night at the U.S. Open.

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Even though the win came in straight sets, there were enough points of fierce competitiveness that the 23,000 night session patrons felt satisfied.

One shot alone was worth the price of admission.

In the second-set tiebreaker, Istomin cracked a winner while in a full sprint. When he slid to a stop, Istomin was doing splits and was ahead 5-1 and yet it was Nadal who was so energized that he won the next six points and the set.

“I was a little bit lucky in the tiebreak the second set,” Nadal said, “and that’s the truth.”

Nadal also cracked a 134-mph serve, his fastest ever. “I started to serve well a week before the competition,” Nadal said. “I changed my grip a little so I could win some easy points. I’m going to try to keep playing like this.”

There hadn’t been much spectacular tennis in the first night match, which was more of a Venus and Serena fashion show.

Wearing a sheer and short black dress with sparkles designed to resemble fireworks, third-seeded Venus Williams overpowered Mandy Minella, 6-2, 6-1.

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A standout in the players’ box wearing a red form-fitting dress was Serena Williams, who is recovering from foot surgery after stepping on broken glass.

Minella, a qualifier from Luxembourg who didn’t hold her serve until the fifth game of the second set, won over the crowd by offering an easy smile after some of her more egregious errors.

And so little tested was Venus that ESPN on-court interviewer Pam Shriver’s first question to Venus was about Serena’s dress.

“Serena’s looking very sexy tonight,” Venus said.

Quote of the day

Ryan Harrison, the 18-year-old who couldn’t convert three match points in a fifth-set tiebreaker to lose to Sergiy Stakhovsky, on his love of the game: “I’m a tennis fan, a tennis freak. I follow when I’m not even practicing. I love watching it and I love just being part of it.”

Saturday’s featured matches

At 10 a.m. PDT on Arthur Ashe Stadium, fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic against 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi; 14th-seeded Maria Sharapova against 18-year-old American qualifier Beatrice Capra; Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. second-seeded Roger Federer. Beginning at 4 p.m.; James Blake against third-seeded Novak Djokovic. Second match on Louis Armstrong Stadium, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki against Yung-Jan Chan, followed by 19th-seeded Mardy Fish and Arnaud Clement.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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