NEW YORK (AP) Gilles Simon was in a rush to get home from last year's U.S. Open. He plans to stick around for a while this time.
The Frenchman's first child was unexpectedly born four weeks early when he was in New York a year ago. Facing top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the third round, Simon conceded afterward that his mind was thousands of miles away during the third set.
Simon raced to catch a plane, then finally got to meet son Timothe at the hospital.
I was there just three days late,'' he said Sunday, flashing a chagrined smile.It's all right. Not much.''
His focus fully on tennis, the 12th-seeded Simon won his third-round match this time, pulling out a tough four-set victory over 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro.
Simon rallied from a set down and won two tiebreakers in a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory.
The 18th-seeded del Potro had triple set point at 5-4 in the fourth set, but Simon rallied to win the game and eventually force a final tiebreaker.
Finally I started to be tired and it was really hard to play at the end of the match,'' Simon said.It was very good to finish in four sets.''
Late in the match, del Potro was having flashbacks to the 2009 final, when he stayed alive in a fourth-set tiebreaker and went on to beat Roger Federer in five.
But not this time.
The 18th-seeded del Potro was unable to defend his title last year because of wrist surgery. He's still regaining the fitness that allowed him to rally for the five-set victory over Federer.
It's not easy after a year out of competition (to) come to the Grand Slam and play five sets with this weather. Today was very hot,'' del Potro said after playing nearly four hours.I'm still trying to recover my game, my fitness, my mind, everything.''
And Simon made del Potro work hard, running down ball after ball that appeared to be headed for a winner. Del Potro had 72 unforced errors.
He's a fighter, no?'' del Potro said.It's very hard (to) make a winner playing against Simon.''
ILL TO WIN: Flavia Pennetta was so sick from the heat and the tension that she felt like throwing up in the second set of her fourth-round match against Peng Shuai, getting a warning from the chair umpire for taking too much time between points. The 26th-seeded Italian just didn't have any food in her stomach.
And Pennetta didn't have much left in her game after more than 2 1/2 hours on the court Sunday, but she somehow found the energy to stave off four set points and clinch a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory.
``Not the biggest victory of my career, but a very emotional one, certainly,'' she said.
A third set clearly would have favored the 13th-seeded Chinese player.
She played more in place,'' Pennetta said.I ran everywhere like I was crazy.''
After failing to serve out the match, Pennetta trailed 0-5 and 2-6 in the tiebreaker and was so drained she was resting her head against a wall.
Pennetta won three straight points, then Peng had an overhead to clinch the set. Pennetta got to the ball but hit it off the frame.
It landed for a crosscourt winner.
``I was lucky, but I also created that luck, because if I'm not there, then I don't get that ball back,'' Pennetta said.
Pennetta, who upset third-seeded Maria Sharapova in the third round, next faces unseeded Angelique Kerber.
GERMAN GENERATION: Back in 1987, when Steffi Graf was on her way to her first U.S. Open final, she was joined by three countrywomen in the fourth round.
It's taken 24 years for Germany to redevelop that kind of depth.
Three German women reached the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows this year. Angelique Kerber won her match Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals, with Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic yet to play.
The 92nd-ranked Kerber, already on her deepest run at a Grand Slam tournament, beat Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-4, 6-3 in a matchup of unseeded players. Niculescu is ranked 68th and was also playing in the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time.
Kerber upset 12th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round, while Niculescu beat 27th-seeded Lucie Safarova in the third.
The 23-year-old Kerber will likely earn a career-best ranking with her quarterfinal appearance. She's never been above No. 45.
Lisicki, seeded 22nd, was scheduled to face second-seeded Vera Zvonareva on Sunday night. The 10th-seeded Petkovic is set to play unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro on Monday.
Graf was in the fourth round with Sylvia Hanika, Bettina Bunge and Claudia Kohde-Kilsch at the 1987 Open. The 22-time major champion went on to lose to Martina Navratilova in the final that year.
Steffi is Steffi, and we are the next generation,'' Kerber said.I think we have now a lot of players which (are) playing very well. For the German tennis, it's great.''
AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich and AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.