World number two Jelena Jankovic was pushed all the way by Sofia Arvidsson before winning 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 to reach the third round of the US Open.
Jankovic easily took the first set but the Swede edged a second-set tie-break.
Both players had chances in a marathon third set before Venus through to Wimbledon semis ...
Live - Dementieva v Petrova ...
Safina stuns top seed Sharapova ... an exhausted Jankovic triumphed in two hours and 44 minutes.
Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and fifth seed Elena Dementieva also won but eighth seed Vera Zvonareva lost 6-3 6-3 to Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion and last year's runner-up, was given an early scare before beating Romania's Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.
The Russian trailed 4-2 in the first set but recovered to level at 4-4 and went on to take it on a tie-break.
Cirstea's game fell away badly after that and Kuznetsova eased to victory.
"In the first set I went out there but I had no clue how she would play," Kuznetsova said.
"She plays the ball really flat and fast so, for me, it was all about the first set. I realised I had to go more to the forehand because (on her) backhand she was making good shots."
Fifth seed Dementieva, the Olympic champion, thumped France's France's Pauline Parmentier 6-2 6-1.
Dementieva will play British number one Anne Keothavong in the last 32.
Jankovic, who is seeded second, served for the match in the second set and also opened up a 3-0 lead in the tie-break but Arvidsson never gave up.
The world number 63, who lost another epic encounter with Jankovic in Miami earlier in 2008, trailed 3-0 in the decider but broke back to level at 4-4 before Jankovic made a final push for victory.
"It was really tough," Jankovic said. "I am completely out of breath.
"I was pushed to the limit. The last time I played her, she was 5-1 up in the third set and I had to come back."
Jankovic faces Wimbledon semi-finalist Ji Zheng next after she beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-4.
Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder is also through, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-3 6-3.
But Zvonareva, who won a bronze medal in Beijing, tumbled to a straight-sets defeat against Perebiynis, the world number 76.
Lindsay Davenport, the 1998 champion, plays Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova later on day three at Flushing Meadows.
Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Serena Williams, and Dinara Safina all have a mathematical chance of becoming world number one if any of them reach the final.
(BBC)
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