Sportmaster International

New York - Novak Djokovic dealt with cramping and back pain over nearly five hours of battle to survive a Czech challenge from sturdy Radek Stepanek 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) on Friday at the US Open. It turned into a second-round battle for survival for the sometimes-fragile Serb who has raced up the rankings with Paris and Wimbledon semi-finals this season. Stepanek, ranked 35th, looked like staging an upset of the third seed with Djokovic down for the count on court with treatment for back pain. But the challenger also had

his weak moments in the marathon, receiving treatment on a thigh in the closing stages of the endurance contest. ‘He’s a great player,’ Djokovic said of Stepanek. ‘We played a fantastic match today, it was unforgettable. ‘I’m totally exhausted and have no energy. My shoes are stinky but it’s great to win those matches.’ Stepanek has clawed back inside the Top 100 since a nerve injury in his neck which KO’ed him a year ago. He came to the court with wins in 12 of his 15 last hardcourt contests, including a title at Los Angeles. Spanish eighth seed Tommy Robredo sought a little divine inspiration as he held on in another five-setter to knock out American Mardy Fish 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4. ‘I didn’t have much hope of winning this match,’ confessed Robredo, who finally won back-to-back matches this summer. ‘I just fought and prayed for a last chance. ‘It’s just great to win a match like that.’ Croatian 12th seed Ivan Ljubicic joined in with a win over Romanian veteran Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) while Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka piled on more misery for patchy Russian Marat Safin with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 second-round victory. ‘Everything I tried didn’t work out,’ said two-time Grand Slam champion Safin, who lifted the Open title in 2000 over Pete Sampras. ‘It was kind of a weird match. ‘I couldn’t really feel comfortable out there. ‘Maybe I’ll still be here and maybe next year I will win a couple of Grand Slams, you never know,’ said one of the bigger personalities in the sport. ‘But I’m just sure the best moments are still to come.’ Spaniard Carlos Moya continued the resurgence of his career at 30, crushing Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Robby Ginepri earned a home win over Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Women’s top seed Justine Henin managed to smile after winning the first ten games on the way to a 6-0, 6-2 rout of Russian Ekatarina Makarova to blast into the fourth round. The emphatic win was the third straight lopsided victory for the Belgian world number one, each of them containing a 6-0 set. Henin, who won a fourth French Open title in June, will face another Russian in 15th seed Dinara Safina, who ended the dream run of American Ahsha Rolle 6-4, 6-3. ‘I love competition, I just want to give my best in every shot. That’s what I did,’ said the four-time French Open winner. ‘I was very happy the way I played today. It’s been aggressive, it’s been good from the first point till the end. I’m very glad about that.’ Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, seeded tenth, advanced over Czech Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur