Novak Djokovic survives almighty scare at US Open after fighting back from two sets down

The Serbian star was staring down the barrel of a historically early exit at Flushing Meadows after dropping the first two sets against his countryman Djere but somehow found a way back from the brink.

Ultimately, Djokovic was able to secure a 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-3 victory to book his place in the fourth round and avoid his earliest exit since 2006.

"Trust me, it was nerve-racking all the way until the last shot," he said.

"I didn't have much options in the beginning, but in the third, I kind of lifted myself up.

"Once I got the break in the third, I thought, 'OK. I have a shot. I have a chance. I might as well go after it... I started to read his game more than I did in the first two sets."

This was the eighth victory of Djokovic's career that came after he lost the first two sets. 

By the time he took the fourth set to level the scores, only one winner seemed likely, and he raced through the fifth set in fairly quick time as well, winning 12 of the first 14 points.

The match began pretty late on Friday night and only wrapped up after 1.30am.

"Unbelievable. It's almost 2 a.m., a large number of people stayed," Djokovic said on court after the match. "I hope [the fans] enjoyed the show, it was definitely not so enjoyable for me, especially in the first two sets. It was one of the toughest matches I've played here in many years. Huge, huge credit to Laslo for playing some of the best tennis that I've ever seen him play."

For Djere, it was a case of what might have been, as he came very close to securing what would have been by far the biggest win of his career.

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