The marathon match lasted a total of 4 hours and 44 minutes placing a new record on a hard court at the US Open. The 20-year-old Serbian conquered the game by overcoming by just a thin line his up to the-standards rival at 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2).



Stepanek gave Djokovic a remarkable match; even Djokovic himself stated that "I really don't know what to say. I'm really exhausted. I have no energy." "I'm very proud of myself. I don't even know how I managed to win. I was not on top of my game," he said. "I'm happy with the way I was fighting all the way through. We had an unbelievable fight in a remarkable match. It was great fun."

Despite his leg cramps and constant pain the Serbian advances to the next round and will face 59th ranked Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro who recently defeated Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

At the end of the match, the crowd could not stop applauding both players who gave everything for the sake of the sport. Both hugged and Djokovic himself applauded Stepanek for his performance.