Third seed Novak Djokovic survived a gruelling examination to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open in New York, beating Argentine Juan Monaco 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (8-6), 6-1 in an absorbing encounter.
The Serbian was pushed to the limit in a match of exhausting rallies as Monaco saved a match point in the third set before wearing down the Argentine in three hours and 53 minutes.
Monaco had never won a match at the US Open before this year and when Djokovic broke to lead 2-0 in the first set it looked like the Wimbledon semi-finalist would have an easy win.
But the 23rd seed played some inspired tennis to force Djokovic to dig deep, saving the match point before winning the third set in a tie-break.
An early break in the fourth set put Djokovic on his way, though, and he eventually wore Monaco down to set up a clash with veteran Spaniard Carlos Moya. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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