By Shrivathsa Sridhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) -American Taylor Fritz kept the Stars and Stripes fluttering at the U.S. Open on Sunday by swatting aside Czech Republic’s 21st seed Tomas Machac 6-4 6-3 6-3 to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam for the third consecutive year.

Last year’s runner-up Fritz is the sole American man left from the 23 who began the main draw and also the nation’s last hope of ending a 22-year major drought since Andy Roddick held aloft the sterling silver trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2003.

The 27-year-old went toe-to-toe with Machac in the opening set, which he clinched with a break in the 10th game after the Czech hit a backhand wide, and dialled up the intensity in the eighth game of the next set at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

A second break handed

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