Roddick stretches long goodbye

NEW YORK: Andy Roddick stretched his long goodbye into a prime-time showdown with fellow former champion Juan Martin Del Potro.here on Sunday.

American 20th seed Roddick delayed his retirement by advancing to the fourth round with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Italy's Fabio Fognini.

Roddick, the 2003 US Open winner, who will retire once this tournament is over, will play for a spot in the quarter-finals against 2009 winner Juan Martin Del Potro, the seventh seed from Argentina.

Del Potro defeated 63rd-ranked compatriot Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (11/9) in a three-hour 20-minute marathon which was wrapped up on his sixth match point.

Del Potro's win in New York three years ago was the only occasion in the last 30 majors that the champion wasn't Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Djokovic.

While Roddick survived, another former champion, 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt, was knocked out by low-profile Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, a semi-finalist in 2007, who clinched a 7-6 (11/9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win. (AFP)