Former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic dug deep and scored a hard fought 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Sloane Stephens in the third round match of the US Open 2012 Tennis Championships.

Match Cast: Ivanovic vs Stephens

"I was expecting a tough match because she's improved so much in the last year," said Ivanovic. "Even though the crowd is always going to be for the American, I loved the experience of playing out there tonight."

Ivanovic will next face Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria for a place in the quarter-finals.

In another match of the day, Germany’s Angelique Kerber defeated Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-1, 6-2. Kerber will next face this year French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy.