Davenport saves match points to beat Srebotnik

NEW YORK, Sep 4 (Reuters) Former champion Lindsay Davenport saved two match points as she squeezed past Slovenian 22nd seed Katarina Srebotnik 3-6 6-3 7-6 to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

The American 10th seed was well below her best but after saving the match points in the 12th game of the third set, snatched the tiebreak to clinch victory in just under two hours yesterday.

With Davenport struggling to produce her normal power, Srebotnik took advantage to lead by a set and 3-1 before the American upped her game to level and then lead 3-1 in the decider.

Srebotnik then broke back and had two match points at 6-5 and 15-40 on Davenport's serve but the 1998 champion saved them both and then won the tiebreak 7-5 to set up a clash with seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

Reuters PM VP0850