Murray back from the brink,Sharapova knocked out in three

Youre relieved to get through a long one like that,especially when youre behind, fourth seed Murray told reporters. Im just glad Im in the next round and get a chance to improve and play better and give myself a chance, added the Briton.

Defending champion Rafa Nadal strolled through to the third round when his opponent,Frenchman Nicolas Mahut,retired in the first game of the third set complaining of a stomach muscle strain with the Spaniard well in control,leading 6-2,6-2.

Sharapova,who won the US Open in 2006 but has not won a grand slam title since the 2008 Australian Open,became the biggest casualty of a tournament that has mostly gone according to the script. The Russian third seed was one of the favourites to win the crown after winning a lead-up event in Cincinnati but made a whopping 60 unforced errors and served 12 double faults,including two in the final game.

For Pennetta,a quarter-finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2008 and 2009 who is seeded 26th,it was a moment to savour as she celebrated her victory on a baking hot day at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pennettas next opponent is Chinas Peng Shuai,the 13th seed,who advanced with a 6-4,7-6 win over Julia Goerges of Germany in an increasingly wide open womens draw.

None of the remaining players in the bottom half of the draw have won a grand slam title and the only two to have played in a final are last years runner-up,Vera Zvonareva of Russia,and Australias Sam Stosur. Zvonareva,seeded second,beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4,7-5 Friday while ninth seed Stosur,a finalist at the French Open last year,outfought Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6,6-7,7-5.

Murray will face Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the third round and remains on course for a semi-final showdown with Nadal,who has been struggling for form but could not have asked for an easier day as Mahut became the 14th player this week to retire or withdraw from their match.

Former champion Juan Martin Del Potro sailed through with a 6-2,6-1,7-5 win over his fellow Argentine Diego Junqueira. American Andy Roddick,the 2003 winner,silenced talk about a passing of the torch by dismissing 18-year-old compatriot Jack Sock 6-3,6-3,6-4,while big-serving John Isner won his all-American match against Robby Ginepri 6-4,6-3,6-4.

Paes-Elena in quarters

Leander Paes entered the mixed doubles quarterfinals while Rohan Bopanna was through to the mens doubles third round on a reasonably good day for the Indians here. Paes and his Russian partner Elena Vesnina,seeded seventh,defeated the Taipei-Polish pair of Yung-Jan Chan and Mariusz Fyrstenberg 6-2,6-7 (7),1-0 (4). They will now take on the winner of the match between the Belarussian-Polish combine of Olga Govortsova and Marcin Matkowski and Natalie Grandin and Jean-Julien Rojer.

In mens doubles,Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi got the better of the American-German team of James Cerretani and Philipp Marx 7-6 (3),7-6 (4). The fifth-seeded pair will now be up against the winner of the match between Columbians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah and the Australian-Belarussian combination of Paul Hanley and Dick Norman. However,Bopanna and his American partner Vania King,seeded fifth,lost 6-7 (1),6-4,0-1 (7) to the Czech-German pair of Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Philipp Petzschner in the mixed doubles event. The Indian and his American partner Vania King,seeded fifth,lost 6-7 (1) 6-4 0-1 (7) to the Czech-German pair of Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Philipp Petzschner.