Federer, Djokovic in fourth round at U.S. Open

The five-time champion Roger Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday to reach the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Former runner-up Novak Djokovic joined the amazing Federer in the round of 16.

The world No. 1 Roger Federer dropped the first set against the 31st-seeded Hewitt before charging back for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 decision at Ashe Stadium.Roger Federer beat Hewitt in the 2004 final on the grounds of the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.

Roger Federer got past Hewitt despite piling up an uncharacteristic 59 unforced errors, which was 22 more than the 2001 champion Hewitt.

The 15-time major champion Roger Federer advanced in 2 hours, 33 minutes with the help of 15 aces among his 51 winners, while Lleyton Hewitt settled for 26 winners in the setback. The Swiss great also tallied two more service breaks (5-3) than his Aussie counterpart.

Roger Federer, who is also the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champ, has now beaten Hewitt in their last 14 matchups, dating back to 2004, and is 16-7 lifetime against the fiery Aussie.

The former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam event champion Lleyton Hewitt has been climbing back up in the rankings after undergoing hip surgery last summer.

The 28-year-old Roger Federer, who hasn't lost here since 2003, beat Britain's Andy Murray in last year's Big Apple finale. The sublime Swiss will meet 14th- seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo or 21st-seeded American James Blake in the round 16.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic was tested mightily by American qualifier Jesse Witten before prevailing in 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 fashion at Armstrong Stadium. The 26-year-old Witten needed a wild card to get into the qualifying here and had never won an ATP-level match before going 2-1 this week.

Novak Djokovic got past Witten in 3 hours, 28 minutes with the help of a whopping nine service breaks. The surprising Witten tallied six breaks in a losing effort. Unfortunately for Witten, who notched 11 more winners than his Serbian counterpart (42-31), he piled up 11 double faults on Day 6.

The former Aussie Open champion Novak Djokovic was the 2007 runner-up here to Federer.

Up next for Djokovic will be 15th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who came back to best 23rd-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. The Top-16 seeds in the draw are now a perfect 35-0 this week.

Two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko cruised into the fourth round with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Swiss Marco Chiudinelli. The Russian Davydenko, seeded eighth this year, reached the final four here in 2006 and 2007.

The third round is scheduled to conclude here on Sunday, including matches for the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Murray and former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. The second-seeded Murray will meet American Taylor Dent, while a third-seeded Nadal, the reigning Australian Open titlist, will encounter 32nd-seeded fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Also on Sunday, sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro will take on Austrian Daniel Koellerer and seventh-seeded former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be opposed by fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau.