• US Open, Day Five

What They Said

Juan Martin Del Potro was delighted with his win © PA Photos

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Andy Murray needed every bit of his famed movement and stamina to overcome a sluggish start against Dutchman Robine Haase. The Scot ultimately prevailed in five sets, and credited the win to sheer perseverance. He said: "He was playing great. I should have won the first set tiebreak but I made a few mistakes. I started chasing a lot of balls down. At the beginning, I felt sluggish, felt slow. I started forcing myself to get every single ball."

"My legs were not getting me around the court like they normally do and I was out of position for a lot of balls. Once I really just forced myself to get to as many balls as possible, kind of hustled a few points and got the break in the third set, I kind of started playing better. That's really a big part of my game, so I think it was down to that."

Vera Zvonareva had to fight hard to see off Anabel Medina Garrigues and she said: "I feel like I was playing some good tennis, and then there were a few moments where I felt like I disappeared. There were a couple of times, a couple of downs throughout the match. That's something I'm not really happy about, but, you know, overall it showed when I needed I came up with some good tennis and good shots.That's something that I need to focus on, especially, if I want to win my next match. I will need to improve, really to stay focused from the first ball to the last one."

Juan Martin Del Potro impressively disposed of Diego Junqueira and was happy with his play. He said: "I played better than my first round. I was more confidence with my forehand, especially in the beginning of the match, and always it is important to go through. So it doesn't matter if you play good or not the first round if you win. Now I'm in the third one, so I need to improve, I need to be more confident with my serves and forehands if I want to beat Simon or Garcia."

John Isner was impressive in beating fellow American Robby Ginepri and felt it was a tough match. He said: "I knew it was gonna be tough, because Robby, he's been out for quite some time with various injuries and whatnot. He had a little bit of confidence, you know, going his way because of his first round win, and I knew it was gonna be tough. I knew going in I'd have to serve my best because he's such a good returner. That's what I did. When I had my chances I capitalized, so it was a very, very good match on my part, I thought. I was very pleased with how I played."

Maria Sharapova lost an error-filled match to Flavia Pennetta and was understandably unhappy with her display. She said: "I made way too many unforced errors. I fought back to get myself back in the match in the third set. I think the first three, four games on every game I had a chance to win that game, whether it was a breakpoint or it was a game point on my serve, and I didn't win those games. When you're done 1-4 and you get yourself back in a position where can you win again and start making errors, it's just too inconsistent to win the match against her. I thought my opponent played really well, but I did make a lot of errors, a lot of unforced errors that cost me the match."

After sealing a three-set win, Pennetta said: "I was really happy, you know. It was great winning for me, and I think in the third set I was a little bit nervous when I started to think too much about closing the match. So I'm really proud of my game today, and I just want to enjoy this moment now.

Sabini Lisicki is progresing nicely into the tournament and dropped just one game in beating Irina Falconi. She said: "You always have to take it one step at a time in a grand slam, or any tournament, one match at a time. My goal is to get better each day, to improve. You know, obviously I look at the results, but that's not the most important thing. Because, you know, after my injury I really had to focus on each day to get better and better slowly. It was a long progress. But that just showed me that you just have to keep working and it will pay off eventually."

Andy Roddick got the better of fellow Nebraska native Jack Sock in their evening match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the 21st seed had some words of encouragement for the teenager following in his footsteps. He said: "Three years ago, four years ago, I started hearing about this kid from Nebraska. He was gangly, hit the ball hard. It all sounded too familiar. I'm really excited about the future of American tennis. It is bright."

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