PHOTOS: Sharapova survives upset bid by Petrova

Maria Sharapova survived a major scare before beating Nadia Petrova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

The 19th-seeded Petrova led 2-0 in the third set when play was delayed because of rain in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sharapova, the Russian number three seed, has played 11 three-set matches this year and won them all.

She will next play France's 11th seed Marion Bartoli, who upset fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova 1-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the quarter-finals.

Novak Djokovic continued his stroll through the U.S. Open draw on Sunday.

Djokovic had a workmanlike 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau to reach the fourth round.

The Serb took time off after reaching the final in Cincinnati this month and it has paid dividends.

"The attention comes and goes," said Djokovic. "It's normal. This is sport. Obviously Andy and his retirement attracted a lot of attention, so everybody is excited to see him play and see how far he can go.

"I have been playing really well in the U.S. Open the last five years. My goal was to, in these seven, eight days I had off after the Cincinnati final, to really try to recover, charge my batteries, work on some things in my game, and come out strong from the start.

"That's what I've done. I feel great on the court. I'm really trying to keep that up."

He thoroughly dominated Benneteau, hitting 13 aces, enjoying a 41-15 advantage in winners, and never facing a break point despite landing only 59 percent of his first serves.

"Winning the first set obviously brought me a lot of momentum and confidence to continue on playing well," said Djokovic, who won three majors in 2011, including the U.S. Open.

Defending champion Sam Stosur ended the giant-killing run of 18-year-old Briton Laura Robson with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 win in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

The Australian came from a break down to win the first set and held off a late fight-back by Robson in the second to advance to the last eight after one hour, 38 minutes.

Robson saved eight match points as she came from 5-2 down to get back on serve but Stosur broke again to clinch victory and a match with top seed Victoria Azarenka.

"On the match points I probably had a few flashbacks to a few matches last year when I had match points and couldn't close it out," Stosur said.

"But I thought it was a good match and I played pretty well. Towards the end, I probably stepped it up another gear. It was a really good match and definitely one that I needed going to the quarters."

Robson had beaten Kim Clijsters and Li Na to make the fourth round and showed why as she crunched a few groundstrokes to break serve in the third game.

Stosur broke back immediately thanks to a few Robson mistakes but she was in trouble at 4-4 when the Briton had two chances to break.

But the Australian held serve and then broke to win the set, before storming ahead 5-2 in the second.

In a mammoth eighth game, Robson saved five match points to hold serve and then saved two more as she broke the defending champion to get back on serve.

Robson then saved an eighth match point as Stosur showed signs of nerves closing it out but the seventh seed then finally sealed it on the ninth attempt.

Former champion Andy Roddick staved off retirement by winning 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 over Italy's Fabio Fognini in front of 20,000 of his new-found best friends at raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The party continued at Flushing Meadows for Roddick, who has become a rock star since announcing on Thursday he would retire after the U.S. Open.

New York fans always enjoyed watching Roddick but it has been raised several notches. Fans in Ashe Stadium cheered the 30-year-old American's every move and repeatedly broke into chants of "Let's go An-dy, let's go, An-dy."

When Fognini's service return slammed into the net on match-point, the crowd, including Roddick's model/actress wife Brooklyn Decker, erupted.

"I'm comfortable out there," Roddick told reporters. "I'd be an idiot not to use the crowd right now. It's a huge advantage. Each match is almost like it's another memory. I'm certainly going to use them."

Roddick, whose 2003 title at Flushing Meadows was the only grand slam he ever won, blasted 10 aces and struck 39 winners in the three-hour match.

"I've been surprised by the support," said Roddick. "I thought inside our world (my retirement) would be something, but I don't know that I expected all of this and the crowd to react the way it has.

"It's been a special experience for me. It's been a lot of fun."

Roddick will next play seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open winner, who beat Argentine compatriot Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 7-5, 7-6.

In a mild upset in a tournament with few surprises, 11th seed Marion Bartoli of France recovered from a disastrous first set to remove fifth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.

Other winners included top-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and David Ferrer of Spain and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka on the men's side.