US Open 2013: Day 5 wrap - Lleyton Hewitt back in spotlight after knocking Juan Martin del Potro out

The first Friday of the US Open had some exciting action in store as most of the big guns geared up for battle. Here is all you need to know about the action on Day 5:

Match of the day (Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Lleyton Hewitt)

The night time action at Flushing Meadows threw up another enthralling encounter as two former champions slugged it out for a third round berth. Del Potro with his recent form on the American hard courts started out as the favourite but the 2001 US Open champion, Hewitt, has been known to be a tricky customer in the earlier rounds.

The Argentine started the match sharper of the two, racing to a 2-0 lead. However, Hewitt clawed his way back into the set, breaking Del Potro twice and winning the set 6-4. In the second set, the Australian held set point to tale a two-nothing advantage but Argentine denied Hewitt the opportunity to pocket the set 7-5.

Del Potro upped the ante in the third, and raced to a two sets to one lead. The fourth set was neck-and-neck, with both players exchanging breaks of serves, before heading into a tie-break. Hewitt got an early mini-break after Del Potro double faulted and then used that momentum to comfortably win the tie-break 7-2 and set up a decider.

In the final set, Del Potro could not gather any momentum as he was broken thrice by the Australian. In the end, Del Potro double faulted on match point to hand the Australian his first top ten win on Arthur Ashe Stadium since beating Pete Sampras in the 2001 final. Hewitt won 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 over the sixth seed in four hours three minutes.

“It was unbelievable atmosphere. I just kept fighting and putting it out there. You know, I kept coming at him the whole night. Felt like I was seeing the ball well. Felt like I played a good game plan for most of the night as well,” Hewitt said.

“Through the fourth set I felt like even though I was down on the scoreboard two sets to one, I felt like I was getting in more of his service games, holding a little bit more comfortable. Possibly he was getting that half a step slower through that fourth set. Was good to get the break, but he played a great game to break me back.”

Progress of the seeds:

Men’s draw:

Novak Djokovic continued his US Open campaign with a straight sets 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 victory over Benjamin Becker. Djokovic had to struggle early in the match, with Becker serving for the first set, but the gritty Serb held his nerve to take the set to a tie break. From then on though it was one way traffic as the number 1 seed raced away with the match.

“It was a struggle. It was different conditions from the first match, and, you know, I knew that he’s a dangerous player. If he serves well and high percentage, he can be dangerous player,” the Serbian said after his match.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Tomas Berdych had to dig deep against American Denis Kudla to earn a straight sets 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 in close to three hours. Defending champion Andy Murray also progressed through to the third round after a minor hiccup in has match against Argentine Leonardo Mayer. The British No. 1 won in four sets, 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka also advanced after a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6(8), 6-4 win against big-serving Ivo Karlovic. However, 17^th seed Kevin Anderson could win only six games in the entire match and was handed a shock defeat at the hands of Cypriat Marcos Baghdatis.

Among the other seeded players, 12^th seed Tommy Haas, 21^st seed Mikhail Youzhny and 31^st seed Julien Benneteau all advanced to the next round.

Women’s draw:

In the women’s section, Chinese Li Na took sweet revenge against Brit Laura Robson (who defeated her last year) courtesy a straight sets 6-2, 7-5 win. Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska also progressed through to the fourth round, defeating Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6(1) in the first match of the morning on Louis Armstrong.

In an all American battle on Arthur Ashe, Australian Open semi-finalist Sloane Stephens emerged victorious over Jamie Hampton, defeating her in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisciki was the highest seed to lose out in the women’s draw as she was defeated by Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

Among the other seeds, eight seed Angelique Kerber, ninth seed Jelena Jankovic and 18^th seed Carla Suarez Navarro all booked fourth round berths.

In a late night encounter starting almost at midnight, top seed Serena Williams defeated Yaroslava Schvedova 6-3, 6-1 to book a fourth round clash against compatriot Stephens.

India at Flushing Meadows:

The Indians did not have a good day at the US Open as Somdev Devvarman bowed out of the singles category, losing out to Andreas Seppi in straight sets .The Indian challenge in the mixed doubles category also ended as all the three mixed doubles teams lost out in their opening round matches.

The only silver lining for India was Rohan Bopanna’s doubles win with Edouard Roger Vasselin in the first round of the men’s doubles event.

Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) [6] beat Bradley Klahn (USA) / Sam Querrey (USA) 6-2 6-4

Somdev Devvarman lost to Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-7(8) 4-6 5-7

Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) lost to Liezel Huber (USA) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) [8] 6-4 6-7(10) [4-10]

Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) lost to Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 6-7, 6-7

Rohan Bopanna (IND) [3]/ Julia Goerges (GER) [3] lost to Abigail Spears (USA) / Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) 7(1)-6, 2-6 [6-10]

Matches to watch out for Day 6:

John Isner vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber; Feliciano Lopez vs. Milos Raonic; Richard Gasquet vs. Dmitry Tursunov; Victoria Azarenka vs. Alize Cornet; Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Flavia Pennetta