For the second match in succession at the US Open, Britain's number one Greg Rusedski dug himself an enormous hole but managed, by dint of extraordinary will power and determination, to scramble out of it, beating Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 46, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in just under three hours yesterday.

Having defeated Wayne Ferreira over five sets in the first round, Rusedski needed another five to see off Ulihrach, saving a match point in the process, as he had two against the South African.

His form remains patchy and his service more vulnerable than usual, but when it comes to a scrap, Rusedski invariably manages to squeeze out the very last drop of resolve and resolution from his character. Ulihrach, more at home on a clay court, played wonderfully well, with his double-fisted crosscourt backhand frequently leaving Rusedski flat-footed at the net, but the 23-year-old Czech, ranked number 35, is known to drift out of matches at crucial times, and so it proved in the fifth set at Flushing Meadow.

Rusedski, last year's beaten finalist, chipped and charged and the very shot that had been his great strength let Ulihrach down. The backhand flew past Rusedski, but landed just wide to give him the vital break in the final set.

Rusedski began diffidently and lost his serve in the third game. Ulihrach had won their previous encounter on clay at the Italian Open this year and the Czech began this encounter seemingly determined to ignore the fact that this time they were playing on a fast hard court.

Rusedski was dragged into any number of prolonged rallies and when he tried to cut them short by charging the net, Ulihrach passed him with supreme confidence.

"Oh, come on!" Rusedski chastised himself, but even when Ulihrach's serve began to flake, the British number one could not take advantage and duly lost the first set in 37 minutes.

Rusedski continued to fume quietly to himself, the crowd gasping when he put a simple smash well beyond the baseline. Ulihrach was clearly enjoying himself but gradually Rusedski's ground strokes began to develop more snap and penetration.

Even when 0-30 down on one of his service games, Ulihrach had enough confidence to dink a wonderfully delicate drop shot which left Rusedski rocking on his heels, and it came as something of a shock when the Czech dropped his service to love.

Rusedski created the opening with a brace of splendid volleys, while Ulihrach compounded his own problems with a couple of loose and wayward attempted passing shots. Rusedski was level and mightily pleased he must have been for, prior to this, Ulihrach had appeared completely unruffled.

Then, quite perversely, Rud sedski found himself 0-40 down on his own serve. His response was to rattle down aces of such speed and power that Ulihrach was powerless to respond. The crisis appeared over, and two doubles faults by the Czech looked certain to secure Rusedski the third set. But this time it was Ulihrach's turn to find aces in adversity, and he duly allowed himself a small grin.

One game later Rusedski was hurling his racket away in a rage when the combination of a double fault and a terrible volley saw him lose his serve and the third set.

If Ulihrach believed the match was won, he was to be quickly disabused. Rusedski completely dominated the fourth set, serving superbly, but the alarm bells began to clang horribly in the final set as Ulihrach's brilliant ground strokes took him to within one shot of victory.

But the Czech could not quite close the door and Rusedski bellowed his relief as he dispatched a final smash to send him into the third round. As against Ferreira, Rusedski's tennis left much to be desired but for sheer guts this was another wonderful effort.

Swiss star Marc Rosset had booked a seat on the Swissair jet that plunged into the sea off Nova Scotia, but changed his plans at the last minute and missed the doomed flight.

Rosset, the 1992 Olympic champion, was eliminated from the US Open on Monday and was supposed to return to Geneva. No reason has been give for his his ticket cancellation for the Swissair flight, which crashed on Wednesday killing 229 passengers and crew.