Djokovic, Fish Battle To Five-Set Wins

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic recorded his fifth straight win against Viktor Troicki.

Third seed Novak Djokovic, the 2007 runner-up, beat the heat and his Serbian friend Viktor Troicki to avoid a first round exit at the US Open.

Djokovic overcame his Davis Cup team mate with a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory in three hours and 40 minutes to set up a second round meeting against Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who overcame Dusan Lojda 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 earlier on day two.

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World No. 47 Troicki, who hit 23 aces and 66 winners, led Djokovic 3-1 in the fourth set. But Djokovic avoided a first opening-round loss at a Grand Slam championship since the 2006 Australian Open by breaking the Troicki serve in the sixth and 12th games to force a fifth-set decider.

Djokovic committed 43 unforced errors to 61 for Troicki, who dropped to a 25-24 match record on the season. Both players have helped Serbia reach the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals this year.

As on-court temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit, Djokovic said that he knew he had to dig deep to work his way back into the match.

“I’ve been in those situations before, played a lot of long matches in very difficult conditions, feeling very exhausted. You kind of start panicking a little bit when you don’t feel great physically. Then your opponent takes the advantage. Definitely those moments are very challenging for an athlete. But I overcame it and that’s what matters most to me.”

Mardy Fish, making his 10th appearance, battled past World No. 82 Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 in two hours and 31 minutes. The American No. 19 seed, hit 24 aces to improve to a 35-13 match record on a career-best season.

During the post-Wimbledon swing, the 28-year-old Florida resident has won back-to-back ATP World Tour tournaments for the first time at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (d. O. Rochus) in Newport and at the Atlanta Tennis Championships (d. Isner). He was also runner-up at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters at Cincinnati (l. Federer) where, as a wild card, he defeated both Andy Murray and Andy Roddick on his way to the final.

Fish, who has now won 17 of his past 19 matches, said that a tough Olympus US Open Series had prepared him well for sizzling condition on court at Flushing Meadows. “This is probably the hottest it’s gonna be here,” he said. “But from what we went through this summer, particularly in Atlanta, it’s not even close… No humidity, so it just feels nice.”