Andy Murray stumbled into the second week of the US Open on Saturday, overcoming 63 unforced errors as he found his way past Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2 6-3.
"I stopped rushing in the rallies and was making quite a few unforced errors," Murray said.
"When I slowed things down and waited for the right shot to go for, my unforced errors went down, the winners went up and the scoreboard started working in my favour.
"Maybe it took me a little bit longer than I would have liked to work things out.
Murray was leading a record pack of three British men who reached the third round, a feat which has not been achieved in almost four decades.
He advanced to a fourth-round clash with 22nd seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, a 6-4 6-1 3-6 6-2 winner over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Stan Wawrinka was tested for four hours by Brit Daniel Evans, with the Swiss third seed saving a match point in the fourth set and emerging with a 4-6 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 win.
"It was an unbelievable fight tonight, I was lucky to get through that match. He was pushing me a lot at the end. I'm really happy to survive that match," Wawrinka said.
World No.64 Evans, who was ranked as low as 772 in May of last year, stunned Wawrinka as he took the match to the two-time grand slam champion in a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem was serenaded by the crowd as he celebrated his 23rd birthday with a gruelling 1-6 6-4 6-4 7-5 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
The Austrian was pushed hard, especially in the fourth set, but held on to seal a victory which was followed by a rendition of Happy Birthday by the Grandstand Court fans.
When former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro began his latest comeback in March he said he was playing for fun after three operations on his wrist.
Six months on, with an Olympic silver medal in the bag, the Argentine beat 11th seed David Ferrer of Spain 7-6 6-2 6-3 to reach the US fourth round for the first time since 2012.
Sixth seed Kei Nishikori continued to be a French bogeyman, beating a sluggish Nicolas Mahut 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.
With a 10-1 record against Frenchmen this season, Nishikori surely was pleased to see four players from France in his quarter of the draw, and he added the 34-year-old Mahut's scalp to his growing collection.
Nishikori, who reached the US Open final in 2014, has now reached at least the fourth round in all four grand slams this season.
