Andy Murray admits he will have to raise his game against big-hitting Dutchman Robin Haase tonight to avoid a potential banana skin here at Flushing Meadows.

But the Scot vowed there is plenty more to come after surviving a few sticky moments in his first-round win over Somdev Devvarman.

Murray does not consider a bit of a first-round struggle to be a bad thing, and feels exper-ience has taught him that working your way into a tournament is the best way to succeed.

He said: "I think I definitely can play better, and that's important. I don't think you want to be playing your best tennis right at the beginning.

"I think that's something that, over the years, I've got better at understanding. I would get very frustrated in matches if I wasn't playing great right at the start."

Haase won their only pre- vious match, in Rotterdam in 2008, and is currently in the best form of his career after winning his first ATP World Tour event in Kitzbuhel earlier this month.

Murray said: "He's a tough player. He's talented, has quite a big game. He'll start off very fast, very flashy. He likes playing on the big courts. He'll definitely come out swinging, so I need to try and weather that, play a solid match."

Haase first broke into the top 100 as a 20-year-old in 2007 and looked set for a swift rise to the top ranks before a knee injury put him out of action for a year and a half.

He did not return until the very end of 2009, when he was ranked outside the top 600, but he wasted little time in picking up where he left off and, by the close of last year, he had climbed back to 65th.

Haase also made his mark at the Grand Slams, leading then world No.1 Rafael Nadal by two sets to one in the second round of Wimbledon before going down in five.

The 24-year-old said: "In 2010, I came back, but to play the big guys after one-and-a-half years out was just too much, they were too good. I had to make a step down, play some Challengers, I did well immediately and got back really fast.

"I've played Nadal, (Lleyton) Hewitt, (Novak) Djokovic here, I'm used to the big courts. I'm looking forward to another one. Against Nadal I almost made it and now I hope I can do it."

Novak Djokovic dropped only two games in thrashing hapless Argentinian Carlos Berlocq 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 in the early hours of this morning to move into the third round.

Djokovic has now won 59 matches out of 61 this season, and he said: "The first two sets were ideal. I could not play better. I was getting a lot of balls back, I was ending the points when I needed to. I was making a lot of winners. My serve was okay, and my return was great.

"I felt fantastic on the court. And there is not much I can say when everything seems fun and seems enjoyable when you're playing such good tennis.

"I have been playing this well for a while this year. I've been playing some matches where I felt that could not miss the ball. That's exactly where you want your game to be, at the top, at the highest possible level."

Roger Federer also cruised through with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Dudi Sela, and the Swiss said: "I had not much trouble on my serve, and from the baseline I also thought I had the upper hand. When it's like that, obviously it's tough for the opponent, but I just think I was superior.

"It was a good match for me in breezy conditions. It was a bit tricky early on to find the rhythm. That's why I was happy to get the first break in the first set."

Seventh-seed Gael Monfils was sent packing by Spanish veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero in five, action-packed sets.