Novak Djokovic fought back from two sets down to overcome compatriot Laslo Djere and reach the fourth round of the US Open during a late-night spectacular on Friday.
The two Serbian foes went toe-to-toe at the Arthur Ashe Stadium for three hours and 45 minutes, and Djokovic eventually completed a terrific turnaround to prevail 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-3.
Djere got off to a dream start against the 23-time Grand Slam winner with a break in the opening game of the match, and an off-colour Djokovic had no answer after losing his serve in the seventh game of the second set.
However, following a "pep talk" in the mirror, Djokovic came out a different beast in the third set, winning five games on the bounce via a double break before Djere also lost his serve in the first game of the fourth set.
The 32nd seed did immediately break back, but his late efforts were fruitless against a fired-up Djokovic, who strung together a magnificent eight-game winning streak before Djere restored some parity with a hold to love.
By that point, however, Djokovic was already a break up in the decider, and a 58th unforced error of the night from Djere on match point saw Djokovic progress to the fourth round, where he meets Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo.
Djokovic's triumph marked the eighth time in his career that he has recovered from a two-set deficit to win a top-level match, but Iga Swiatek's route to the last 16 was much more straightforward.
The defending women's champion is yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows this year and made light work of her meeting with Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan, winning 6-0 6-1 in just 49 minutes.
Registering a second bagel in three matches, Swiatek won each of the first nine games before Juvan belatedly got on the board, which would be nothing more than a minor consolation for the world number 145, who hit a paltry two winners compared to Swiatek's 21.
Swiatek can now look ahead to a meeting with former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, who came back from a set down to beat the USA's Bernarda Pera 4-6 6-3 6-3, while Caroline Wozniacki's fairytale homecoming continued with a 4-6 6-3 6-1 win over Jennifer Brady.
Wozniacki's reward is a glamour tie with sixth seed Coco Gauff, who recovered from a slow start to dump Elise Mertens out 3-6 6-3 6-0, but Elena Rybakina's run came to a premature end.
The former Wimbledon winner was made to pay for 56 unforced errors in a 3-6 7-6[6] 4-6 loss to Sorana Cirstea, who will meet 15th seed Belinda Bencic in her first-ever US Open fourth-round match.
Elsewhere, 10th seed Karolina Muchova saw off Taylor Townsend 7-6[0] 6-3 to set up a clash with Wang Xinyu, who posted a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to reach a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time in her career.
Home favourites Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul also prolonged their runs on home soil, beating Jakub Mensik, Adrian Mannarino, Aslan Karatsev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina respectively. body check tags ::
