Djokovic prevails in 63 games
NEW YORK – They broke out odd little dances after hitting big shots, swaying their hips and rocking their arms to music only in their heads.
They pushed their beleaguered bodies this way and that for 4 hours, 44 minutes Friday, swatting balls from impossible angles and somehow rarely missing the mark.
Through repeated visits from trainers, through all manner of momentum shifts, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic and former top-10 player Radek Stepanek produced as entertaining and lengthy a U.S. Open match as there’s been in quite some time.
Djokovic has emerged as a potential challenger to No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal, and on this day, he emerged victorious, if only barely, beating friend and sometime-doubles-partner Stepanek 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
When it ended, Stepanek stepped over the net, dropped his racket and trudged over to apply a bearhug so hearty the weary Djokovic nearly toppled over.
“As much as I was running and sliding and cramping … I still had a lot of fun,” Djokovic said. “There are a couple of points that are really unforgettable.”
And, oh, how many points there were – 356 in all. The match lasted 63 games, the most at the U.S. Open since John Lloyd and Paul McNamee played the same number in 1979 to set the tournament record.
“Long day,” Djokovic said. “Long match.”
It was another super day for his Serbia at another Grand Slam, too, with No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 5 Ana Ivanovic reaching the women’s fourth round. Another Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, though, stopped because of an injured rib muscle while losing 6-2, 6-3, 3-2 against Nadal.
The Spaniard’s bothersome knees were not a problem in the second round the way they were in the first, and he now meets Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who ended six-time major semifinalist Tim Henman’s Grand Slam career by beating the Brit in four sets.
“I’m not 100 percent yet … but so much better,” Nadal said. “I play better, too. I feel more comfortable.”
A trainer taped up the top of his left index finger after part of the nail came off, but Nadal said that it isn’t a big deal.
Two past U.S. Open men’s champions bowed out Friday: 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt was upset by 58th-ranked Agustin Calleri 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 under the lights, while 2000 winner Marat Safin lost in straight sets.
French Open runner-up Ivanovic earned another shot at Venus Williams, who beat her in the Wimbledon semifinals en route to the title. Two-time U.S. Open champion Williams was never really challenged in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 21 Alona Bondarenko.
Williams’ younger sister, Serena, got to the fourth round by beating No. 27 Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-6 (4). Serena was bothered by the chair umpire’s insistence that she put away a little notebook with handwritten notes.
“I was like, ‘Well, it’s not like I’m Harry Potter, and my dad can magically give me notes to read,’ ” she said. “It’s something I write myself. Just little things.”
Her opponent will be Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli, while No. 1 Justine Henin next plays No. 15 Dinara Safina, who ended the run of Ahsha Rolle of the United States 6-4, 6-3.
Safina’s older brother, the 25th-seeded Safin, didn’t put up much of a fight in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Stanislas Wawrinka. American Mardy Fish led No. 8 Tommy Robredo 4-1 in the fifth set before dropping the last five games and the match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4, in 3 ½ hours.