Davenport stumbles into last 16

Former champion Lindsay Davenport rode her luck before reaching the fourth round at the US Open.

The 10th seed saved two match points before sealing a 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) win against Slovenian Katerina Srebotnik.

Davenport, 30, triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 1998 and was a runner-up two years later.

She admitted it was a struggle against Srebotnik, the 22nd seed who by reaching the third round had achieved her best result in New York.

“It was so tough,” said Davenport. “It was just one of those days where I didn’t feel like I was hitting the ball all that cleanly. Normally that’s what I do well.

"Even down 6-3 3-1, I tried so hard to come back and win the second set, which I was able to do. I got some momentum in the third, then some errors crept back into my game.

“Then at the end, I was like trying so hard to play better and better, probably trying too hard. She played great. Like I said, I made a bunch of errors. Being down the match points, coming back and finding a way to win, playing a pretty good tie-break, was exciting.”

Davenport will face seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland next. Schnyder made a dreadful start to her match against France’s Marion Bartoli but recovered to win 0-6 6-3 6-3.

Another former champion, American Serena Williams, joined Davenport and Schnyder in the last 16.

Williams, who is competing in the tournament by virtue of a wildcard after a long spell of inactivity, disposed of number 16 seed Ana Ivanovic of Croatia 6-2 6-4.

Next up for Williams will be France’s Amelie Mauresmo, who moved one step closer to her third major title of the season by defeating unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo 6-3 3-6 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia was ousted by 27th-seeded Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin, 7-5 6-7 (4/7) 6-3.

Golovin next will face another Russian, number 23 Anna Chakvetadze, who beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4 6-3.

Another Russian, 12th seed Dinara Safina, advanced to meet Virginie Razzano of France in the fourth round after a 6-3 6-0 victory over Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova.