Djokovic thwarts upset
Djokovic thwarts upset 
From correspondents in New York, United States
Former Australian Captain September 01, 2007
WORLD No. 3 Novak Djokovic overcame painful leg cramps to outlast Radek Stepanek in a gruelling five-set thriller to and reach the third round of the US Open. The 20-year-old Serbian, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-finals this year at Wimbledon and the French Open, conquered his 34th-ranked Czech rival 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) after four hours 44 minutes.
“We played an amazing match. The match was unforgettable,” Djokovic said.
“I really don’t know what to say. I’m really exhausted. I have no energy.”
Djokovic advanced to a third-round match against 59th-ranked Argentine teen Juan Martin Del Potro, who beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 and was confident his fitness could offset the toll of the marathon match.
“I’m very proud of myself. I don’t even know how I managed to win. I was not on top of my game,” he said.
“I’m happy with the way I was fighting all the way through. We had an unbelievable fight in a remarkable match. It was great fun.”
Two men who could barely stand received standing ovations from the crowd, Stepanek hugging Djokovic after the Serb sank to his knees following a backhand winner that ended the drama.
“That match was really special. After such a match, it had to be done. I didn’t plan it. I just felt it was something to do,” Stepanek said.
“To play in such an atmosphere is just amazing. You want to leave everything you have on the court. I think we both did. I gave everything I had.”
Trainers treated each man for cramping during the last three sets, massages helping them fight to the emotional finish of the stamina-shredding struggle, the best match so far at the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.
“I was trying to be positive and trying to heal myself and get over the injuries,” Djokovic said.
“I had cramping in both legs and arm and back. It’s good to be through.”
World number two Rafael Nadal, who ousted Djokovic at Wimbledon and the French Open, was set to test his sore left knee in a night match against Serb Janko Tipsarevic at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic’s most recent of four titles this year came in Montreal when he beat world number one Roger Federer, Nadal and number three Andy Roddick - the first man since Boris Becker in 1994 to defeat the top three in the same event.
Stepanek, 28, was undone when he netted a forehand volley to surrender a decisive break in the final game of the fourth set.
Nadal, who beat Federer in the French Open final but lost to him in the Wimbledon final, injured his knee during a workout Sunday and struggled through a first-round victory over Australian wild card Alun Jones.
Half the men’s draw is up for grabs with Nadal hurting, Chilean seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez out, Djokovic suffering on court and Spanish eighth seed Tommy Robredo pushed to the limit at Arthur Ashe Stadium before escaping.
Robredo, 25, beat American Mardy Fish 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4 in three hours 29 minutes and will next face 89th-ranked Latvian teen Ernests Gulbis.
Robredo squandered two match points in the fourth-set tie-breaker then fell behind 4-1 in the fifth before breaking Fish at love in the sixth game and again on his third break chance in the eighth game before holding to advance.
“I wasn’t thinking to win this match. I was just fighting to the end. I was praying to God for a chance,” Robredo said.
“I had a big monkey on my back that I had never won on this court. Now the monkey is gone.”
Britain’s Tim Henman, who could be Nadal’s third-round foe, faced a possible grand slam farewell in a second-round match with France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The Englishman, one week shy of his 33rd birthday, will retire after a Davis Cup tie at Wimbledon in three weeks.
Federer, seeking his 12th Grand Slam title and fourth US Open title in a row, returns to action with a third-round match Saturday against 199th-ranked American John Isner.
Agence France-Presse