US OPEN
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Date: 31 August - 13 September
BBC coverage: Live text commentaries on the website from 1600 BST each day, regular updates on 5 live, full commentary on 5 live sports extra in week two, both finals on 5 live
**Defending champion Roger Federer recovered from a lacklustre start to beat Lleyton Hewitt 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 and make the fourth round of the US Open.**Hewitt had lost the pair’s previous 13 meetings, but looked like he might buck that trend when he secured a decisive break in the ninth game of the opener.
The Swiss responded in the second set but was forced to dig deep in the third before closing out in solid style.
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic also battled through with a win over Jesse Witten.
Federer, the world number one, struggled to find a way past a scampering Hewitt in the early stages of the match and saw his break in the sixth game immediately wiped out by one from the Australian.
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After facing down two break points in his next service game, Federer surrendered on a third to hand the first set to his 28-year-old opponent.
But Federer suddenly found his range to break Hewitt to love in the fourth game of the second set before holding his serve in similarly emphatic fashion to compound his advantage.
The pair were finally separated in a tight third set as Hewitt sent a slice long to allow Federer to edge ahead for the first time.
Hewitt fought bravely in the final set as he broke back at 5-2 down, but he could only delay his demise.
Federer, who committed 59 unforced errors in victory, will look to sharpen his game ahead of a fourth-round meeting with Spain’s Tommy Robredo or USA’s James Blake.
Djokovic, who had not dropped a set in his first two matches, struggled in the heat before eventually claiming a 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win over American qualifier Witten.
The gap of 272 ranking places between the two was hard to detect as Witten, who had beaten 29th seed Igor Andreev in the first round, took the first set on a tie-break.
Djokovic may have expected to cruise to victory after levelling in the second but, backed by a partisan crowd, Witten battled on to keep the Serb on court for almost three and a half hours.
The Czech Republic’s 15th seed Radek Stepanek also made heavy weather of his third-round match eventually overcoming Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3.
The result means the top 16 male seeds remain undefeated in the tournament.