Murray headed to third round; Clijsters retires

NEW YORK - Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray reached the third round at the U.S. Open for the seventh year in a row, beating 118th-ranked Ivan Dodig of Croatia, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, Wednesday night.

The third-seeded Murray saved all three break points he faced against Dodig, who never has made it past the second round at any Grand Slam tournament.

Murray was the runner-up at Wimbledon this year, joining his coach, Ivan Lendl, as the only men in tennis history to lose their first four major finals. Murray also fell one win shy of a title at the U.S. Open in 2008, and the Australian Open in 2010 and 2011.

As the first man to get into the third round this year, Murray gets a chance to rest a bit. He is not slated to play until Saturday.

Earlier, Kim Clijsters' singles career ended when the four-time Grand Slam champion lost, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), to 18-year-old Laura Robson of Britain. Clijsters will head into retirement after she finishes playing in doubles at Flushing Meadows.

The 29-year-old Clijsters, who walked away from the sport in May 2007, then returned after a 21/2-year hiatus, had insisted this season that she means to retire this time, deciding that the U.S. Open would be her final tournament.

"It's the place that has inspired me so much to do well and to do great things. It's hard to explain sometimes why," said Clijsters, her face flushed and her eyes welling with tears.

The loss Wednesday - to an 89th-ranked player who had only one prior victory over a top-25 player - ended Clijsters' 22-match winning streak in New York, encompassing titles in 2005, 2009, and 2010, plus Monday's first-round victory.

She was the only seeded woman who lost during the afternoon session of Day 3, when the winners included No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, defending champion Sam Stosur, 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, and 2011 French Open champion Li Na.

Joining Robson with a surprise victory was American wild-card entry Mallory Burdette, the NCAA runner-up who reached the third round in her Grand Slam debut by eliminating 69th-ranked Lucie Hradecka, 6-2, 6-4.

Until recently, Burdette planned to take premed courses as a senior at Stanford in pursuit of a career in psychiatry. "It's been a crazy ride," the 252d-ranked Burdette said.

Could get even wilder: She next faces four-time major champion Maria Sharapova, a 6-0, 6-1 winner Wednesday night over 78th-ranked Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain.

Earlier on Ashe, the highest-ranked American man, John Isner, let out a big exhale of relief while waving to the crowd after getting past an argumentative Xavier Malisse, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (9), in the first round.

"I know in the nitty-gritty times of a match, I always have that confidence and all those wins in my back pocket," said Isner, who is 37-13 in tiebreakers this season.

The 6-foot-9 Isner hit 20 aces and ended things with a service winner on his third match point. That came after Malisse pushed an easy backhand volley into the net, then grabbed the ball and shoved it in his mouth and chomped on it as though it were an apple.

The 57th-ranked Malisse, a 2002 Wimbledon semifinalist, was louder and angrier during a few exchanges with the chair umpire and even members of the crowd, earning a warning for profanity.

"Half of the crowd doesn't understand what's going on," Malisse said. "They yell. We're in New York. So you're going to get more yells. That's fine by me. . . . [But] I'm going to say something back."

David Ferrer opened his tournament with a result befitting a top-four seed.

Seeded fifth, Ferrer moved up a spot because fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal is out with knee problems. Ferrer beat 34th-ranked Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3).