Djokovic survives gruelling Monaco test

NEW YORK, Sep 5 (Reuters) Third seed Novak Djokovic survived a gruelling examination to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open, beating Argentine Juan Monaco 7-5 7-6 6-7 6-1 in an absorbing encounter.

The Serb was pushed to the limit in a match of exhausting rallies as Monaco saved a match point in the third set before wearing down the Argentine in three hours, 53 minutes yesterday.

''It was a very difficult match,'' said Djokovic, who will now play veteran Spaniard Carlos Moya.

''It was a bit surprising that he was stepping it up, being aggressive and trying to take control of the match. I had to fight for every point.

''I am pretty happy with my performance. I played my best tennis on the most important moments and that's a positive thing, and I served really well today.'' Djokovic came through long matches in consecutive days at Wimbledon earlier this year and eventually ran out of steam against Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.

VERY EXHAUSTING The 20-year-old said he thought he would be fine by the time he plays Moya in the last eight tomorrow.

''It's good I have a day off so that I can recover because it was a long match today, very exhausting.

''I lost (to Moya) the last two times we played. But in Cincinnati I didn't play even 20 per cent of my game. He's a great player, he's very experienced, knows what it's like to win big matches. Hopefully I can challenge him.'' Monaco had never won a match at the US Open before this year and when Djokovic broke to lead 2-0 in the first set it looked like the Serb would have an easy win.

But the 23rd seed played some inspired tennis to force Djokovic to dig deep, saving the match point before winning the third set on a tiebreak.

An early break in the fourth set put Djokovic on his way, though, and he eventually wore Monaco down to reach the last eight for the first time in New York.

REUTERS TB RAI0958