Novak Djokovic continued his stroll through the US Open draw on Sunday while former champion Andy Roddick staved off retirement by winning in front of 20,000 of his new-found best friends at raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium. While Djokovic had a workmanlike 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau to reach the fourth round, the stadium turned rowdy watching Roddick's 7-5 7-6 4-6 6-4 triumph over Italy's Fabio Fognini.
Third seed Maria Sharapova survived a scare against Russian compatriot Nadia Petrova to reach the quarter-finals, having trailed 2-0 in the deciding set before a 73-minute rain delay allowed her to regroup and march to a 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory. Other winners included top-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and defending champion Sam Stosur of Australia on the women's draw and David Ferrer of Spain and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka on the men's side.
The party continued at Flushing Meadows for Roddick, who has become a rock star since announcing on Thursday he would retire after the US Open. New York fans always enjoyed watching Roddick but it has been raised several notches. Fans in Ashe Stadium cheered the 30-year-old American's every move and repeatedly broke into chants of "Let's go An-dy, let's go, An-dy."
When Fognini's service return slammed into the net on match-point, the crowd, including Roddick's model/actress wife Brooklyn Decker, erupted. "I'm comfortable out there," Roddick told reporters. "I'd be an idiot not to use the crowd right now. It's a huge advantage. Each match is almost like it's another memory. I'm certainly going to use them."
Roddick will next play seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, who beat Argentine compatriot Leonardo Mayer 6-3 7-5 7-6. While Roddick and five-times US Open winner Roger Federer have grabbed most of the headlines, Djokovic, the defending champion, has progressed through the draw without losing a set.
"The attention comes and goes," said Djokovic. "It's normal. This is sport. Obviously Andy and his retirement attracted a lot of attention, so everybody is excited to see him play and see how far he can go. Stosur advanced 6-4 6-4 by ending the giant-killing run of 18-year-old Briton Laura Robson, who had beaten Kim Clijsters and Li Na to make the fourth round. In a mild upset in a tournament with few surprises, 11th seed Marion Bartoli of France recovered from a disastrous first set to remove fifth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 1-6 6-2 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
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