• US Open, Day Five

Robson fighting fit for Stosur

Laura Robson's serve held up as she claimed victory over Li Na © PA Photos

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Laura Robson claimed her first win over a top-ten player when beating Li Na in three sets and it came as a huge shock. She said: "I don't know how I managed to pull that out. I was so disappointed after losing the second set but I felt if I stuck with her it could go my way and it did. I had a few break points in the third set and wasted a couple with some average returning. But I did get them and it took some pressure off my final service game to go up 5-2.

"When the draw first came out I wasn't really looking past the first round. And then, you know, when I heard that I was playing Li Na after I played Kim, I didn't really think anything. I just knew that it was going to be an extremely tough match. I had the opportunity to win it in two. It was a really close tiebreak, and at 5‑All she played two really good points. There's not much that I can do off that. I knew that if I kept playing the way that I was and kept playing how I started the first set, you know, really aggressive and, like, accelerating on my forehand when I had the opportunity, then I knew that she would struggle. That's what I did. I also think that I returned a bit more aggressively in the third set."

Robson has looked sharp around the court this week and she is happy with her fitness. She said: " It's been massive. It just makes so much of a difference mentally, you know. I just feel like I'm healthy and I feel like this is my third match and I'm feeling fine, I'm feeling fit. So I'm really ready for the next match, but in the past after the first round here, you know, I had needed a lot of physio work. Although I have an infected toe at the moment, yeah, it's not bothering me and I'm feeling fine."

Li Na felt she paid the price for making too many mistakes. The No. 9 seed said: " I think I was making a lot of mistake in the whole match, so of course i gave a lot of free points for her. I think I gave her more confidence and allowed her to think that she could win. I will take a few days off, talk to the team, because maybe they saw more clear what went on on the court. We have to plan what is our next step."

Sam Stosur is up next for Robson and the defending champion is aware of the weapons the Brit possesses. She said: "[Laura's] obviously full of confidence and had two very, very good wins. Definitely I can't go into that match lightly. I have to go out there and be on my game and ready to play some good tennis. I've got to focus on my game. And maybe there are a few things you can pick up, but at the end of the day I've got to do what I do well." Commenting on her win over Varvara Lepchenko, Stosur said: " "I think as the match went on I probably became a little bit more comfortable, got used to her spin and maybe the wind a little bit more. It was tricky out there during the first set, and when it's tight, you know, it's hard to really kick start something. I think once I got that first set then I maybe relaxed a little bit more."

Maria Sharapova kept cool in the heat © Getty Images

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Maria Sharapova eased into the fourth round and was happy to nullify the threat of Mallory Burdette. She said: " I expected her to play a big, solid match. I mean, she came out, she has pretty huge groundstrokes, and she likes to go for it. My opponents have been quite different last few rounds. She's certainly somebody who could be dangerous if you give her the time to do what she likes to do. Overall, I was happy with the way I played. I would have loved to have served a little better in that second set today. I gave her that break. But overall, it was pretty solid. Considering the conditions, I thought I served good and placed the ball well."

Sharapova went on to confirm her split from basketball star Sasha Vujacic. She said: "It's been since the end of spring. I was waiting for someone to actually ask me that question. I have never really been the person to announce things. I never announced when we were together or never announced we were engaged. I never have in any of my previous relationships as well.

"It was a really nice period of time for both of us, but our career schedules just made it extremely difficult to see each other with the traveling and especially his career move to Turkey. But we have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. I still would love to call him as a friend. We spent really great years together."

Victoria Azarenka eased into the next round, dropping just one game in the final match on Friday night. The top seed said the electric atmosphere created after home favourite Andy Roddick's big win lifted her to victory. She said: "I think you guys inspired me to play my best tennis. It's an incredible atmosphere and energy. I always wanted to play here, I've watched on TV but it felt really different. It was amazing."

Novak Djokovic eased to a three-set win over Rogerio Dutra Silva but he looked somewhat troubled by the heat. He said: "It was different conditions today obviously from the first match I played, the night session. I didn't know much about my opponent - never saw him play. So that could have been, you know, a difficulty at the start in order to figure out what his game plan was. But I have played well, you know, from the start to the end. For me it's important now to get a day of rest and also practice work on some things in my game, get ready for next challenge.

"I want to spend less time as possible on the court. I have played a lot of tennis, a lot of matches, through the course of this summer. I had also two long weeks in hard courts in Toronto and Cincinnati, so the lack of matches is not something that is worrying me. Actually, I just want to focus and try to win in straight sets every match that I play on."

Andy Roddick extended his career by at least one match after announcing he would retire at the end of the tournament. Roddick was too strong for Bernard Tomic, winning in straight sets. He said: "I had no idea what was going to happen out there. I've played a lot of matches and that was a different kind of nerves than I've had before, so that was surprising for me. I'm going to try to stick around a little longer.''

Bernard Tomic dismissed claims he tanked the match after losing the third set to Roddick 6-0 on Friday evening. He said: "I was a bit nervous the first set. It's very difficult the first time to be in front of 22,000 people. It's very different. A different feeling playing on the back courts than playing on the biggest stage in the world, biggest country in the world.

"I couldn't get the racquet on the ball. Andy was playing, I think, really good at the net, coming into the net. Every time I wanted to pass him, he ended up hitting a half-volley winner or a volley winner. He was on top of me the whole match. I can't complain. The whole match was his way from start to finish pretty much."

Juan Martin Del Potro was pushed hard by Ryan Harrison and he was happy to get a test of his fitness. He said: "My first round and today was a big challenge for me to see how my wrist is going and how my level is. Always when you win matches everything is better. I'm happy to go through to the third round. I will have another tough match in the third round against Mayer."

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