Djokovic battles through to last eight in US Open

Novak Djokovic battled illness, a back problem and the considerable challenge of Juan Monaco to reach the US Open quarter-finals in New York.

Third-seeded Djokovic, from Serbia, took three hours and 53 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium to beat the number 23 from Argentina 7-5 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 and progress to the last eight, where he will play Spain’s Carlos Moya, the 17th seed and a fourth round victor over unseeded Ernests Gulbis.

Having won the first set, Djokovic, 20, received more of a fight from Monaco in a tight second set.

He was broken in the 11th game but broke straight back and continued in top gear into tie-break to score a 7-2 victory and take a two-set lead.

The rest break at the end of the set saw both players receive treatment, Monaco having strapping applied to his right foot and ankle while Djokovic used the time to get lengthier treatment on his back.

If the first game of the second set was an indicator, Monaco’s treatment appeared to be the more pressing as the Argentinian failed to hold serve and appeared to be walking hesitantly on that right ankle and Djokovic, despite looking weary, made the most of it to gain an early grip on the set.

At two sets and a break up, though, the momentum swayed in the opposite direction as Djokovic bizarrely seemed to run out of steam.

Three unforced errors and a double fault wrested the initiative away from the Serb, and Djokovic sunk to his haunches.

The next game saw Djokovic continue to be out of sorts, again resting on his heels before calling for the ATP trainer, who in turn summoned a doctor.

The third seed was picked up by a courtside microphone complaining of feeling out of energy. But he was given a tablet by the doctor and play resumed at 2-1. During the same break, Monaco also received treatment, this time having ice applied to his right elbow.

While appearing to have improved Djokovic looked to be hanging on for the tie-break and conserving his energy.

He needed every last drop for the tie-break as the drama took another turn.

At 5-3 with a set point, a ball dropped out of Monaco’s pocket for the second time in the match and umpire Jake Garner, despite the boos of the crowd, applied the letter of the law and ruled the loss of the point to the Argentinian to let Djokovic off the hook.

Suddenly, Djokovic was in the ascendancy and two more points handed him match point.

A strong serve from Monaco found Djokovic return to the net to prolong the match and he then extended it to a fourth set by taking the tie-break 8-6

Again, Djokovic gained an early upper hand by breaking Monaco in the second game and then holding serve for a 3-0 lead. That was too big a gap to bridge and Djokovic served for the match at 5-1.

Moya used all his experience to stop the charge of teenager Ernests Gulbis.

In a match between the oldest and youngest men left in the singles draw 31-year-old Spaniard Moya needed four sets to oust the 19-year-old Latvian and deny the youngster his bid to reach last eight on his championship debut.

Moya, seeded 14th, won 7-5 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 in two hours 25 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to set up his meeting with Djokovic and he said he would have plenty of confidence going in against the Serb.

“The good think is I beat him twice this year. Every match is a different story but it’s going to be very tough match for me and I’ll try and do my best.”

Number 20 Juan Ignacio Chela outlasted Stanislas Wawrinka in an erratic five-set match at Louis Armstrong Stadium to reach the last eight.