NEW YORK:
Tommy Paul survived a brutal five-set epic that finished at 1:46 am to fight his way past Nuno Borges and into the third round of the US Open early Friday.
The 14th-seeded American finally made it count after 4hr 45mins to pull through 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 in New York.
Late-night finishes in tennis have been a recurring theme, especially at the Australian Open and the US Open, where Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner completed their 2022 quarter-final at 2:50 am.
Paul could have had a comparatively early night with two match points in the third set, but he failed to take them and a newly energised Borges threatened to make him pay.
With the time in the “city that never sleeps” ticking past 1:00 am and the Arthur Ashe Stadium mostly empty, the gruelling encounter went to a deciding fifth set.
There was again nothing between them, with Portugal’s Borges — who is ranked 41 in the world — refusing to go away as he fought back from 3-0 down in the fifth.
Paul finally sealed the deal at 1:46am with a thrilling rally on his third match point, the exhausted pair exchanging a warm embrace at the net after an attritional battle.
“A little bit tired now, I’m sure we all are,” Paul told the spectators that remained until the end.
“First I want to say thank you to you guys for staying so late and supporting me.”
The 28-year-old added: “Definitely cool to get a win.”
He will play the 23rd-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan next.
Zverev sweeps into US Open third round
Alexander Zverev cruised into the third round of the US Open on Thursday with a straight-sets win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.
Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Zverev eased past world number 60 Fearnley 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to book a date with Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
Only Carlos Alcaraz has more than Zverev’s 45 match wins on the men’s circuit this season.
Third seed Zverev has reached at least the quarter-finals in each of his last four trips to New York, where he finished runner-up in 2020.
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have scooped the last seven Grand Slams together but Zverev is hoping to muscle in on their territory and claim an elusive first major.
“I’m here to spoil the party. I’m going to try to do that,” said Zverev, who lost last year’s French Open final to Alcaraz and came second to Sinner in Melbourne in January.
Sinner romps into US Open third round
Jannik Sinner kept his bid to win back-to-back US Open titles firmly on track with an emphatic second round demolition of Australia’s Alexei Popyrin on Thursday.
The Italian world number one needed just two hours and one minute to dispatch Popyrin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Sinner — who only dropped four games in his first round win over Vit Kopriva on Tuesday — was similarly brisk against Popyrin.
The 24-year-old broke Popyrin five times as he moved through the gears against his opponent, ranked 36th in the world.
Sinner faces Canadian 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round on Saturday.
“Obviously I try to play the best tennis I can, the first round match is always different compared to the further you go (in the tournament),” Sinner said.
“I’m very happy that I managed these matches as good as I could, when you are up two sets and a break you try to serve as best as you can.
“Today, it felt like neither of us served well but I was returning well and especially on the second serve. I am happy about today, I am aiming to improve on the serve but the rest (of my game) I am quite comfortable with.”
Sinner has reached the final of all three Grand Slams this season, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon either side of a defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open.
He is bidding to become the first man to successfully defend the US Open since Roger Federer won the last of five consecutive titles in 2008.