New Delhi: The fifth day of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York saw some of the biggest upsets so far in the tournament.
Lleyton Hewitt of Australia crashed after suffering a shock second-round loss to unseeded Argentine Agustin Calleri. The 16 seed went down 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 42 minutes to Calleri.
Marat Safin was the second big name to fall in the day. He suffered a shock 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 defeat at the hands of relatively unknown Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
"You know how many times I have like this? I'm used to it. You have to try until the end. Maybe something will - he will start to get a little bit nervous or maybe I would hit a couple of good shots and everything can change. But today didn't really look this way, so I guess you have to swallow it. And one bad day off, there is not much you can do," a sad Marat Safin said.
Briton Tim Henman's Grand Slam career also came to a disappointing end as he bowed out of the tournament to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Tsonga will now face second seed Rafael Nadal in the third round.
World No. 2 Nadal advanced to the third round after his second-round opponent Janko Tipsarevic retired in the third set because of injury. Tipsarevic was trailing Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 3-2 when he decided to retire.
Meanwhile, third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic beat Czech star Radek Stepanek in an epic four-hour and 44-minute battle of nerves that ended 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, in Djokovic's favour.
"Obviously he likes to play on the hard courts more than any other surface. You know, he showed that today. Before everything, we had unbelievable fight, remarkable match. We should both be proud. Of course, it's always good to be winner of such a five setter. Anyhow, it was a great, great fun out there," Novak Djokovic said.
In the women's event, Ana Ivanovic made it into the final 16 by winning 6-1, 6-3 against Russian Vera Dushevina in one hour and six minutes..
Jelena Jankovic had a slightly tougher time against her opponent France's Alize Cornet. Though she lost the first set but finally won 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. She will now play Sybille Bammer of Austria.
Australian Open champion and eighth seed Serena Williams beat 27th seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 7-6 to set up a clash with 10th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the next round.
"I don't know if I'm happier, but I'm happy I came through. I don't think I played well at all but I'm happy I was able to come through," Serena Williams said.
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