NEW YORK – Tommy Paul and Nuno Borges played well on Friday morning in another midnight marathon classic match at the US Open.
Paul eventually came out on top of the 17th best finish in tournament history and took part in the history book as the second best finish in the second round.
“It was a victory, not a loss, I was definitely happy,” Paul said, stretching afterwards. “It was an explosion. It was certainly an emotional roller coaster.”
Paul scored the first two sets and had some match point chances to close it in three. He lost his third and fourth sets instead, and was tied up to the fifth after rising 3-0.
The 14th American seed 14th broke the last Borge and finished with a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 victory.
“When I hit the last shot, I was all twisted,” Paul said. “I didn’t even know if he made it or not. I raised my hands up like I got points, but I didn’t really know.”
The match, which began as a cap on Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, lasted for 4 hours and 25 minutes, ending at 1:46am.
Paul thanked the rest of the fans for helping him pushed through, and hoped that many of them would approach the courthouse.
“I think they should open it so that people on the top can get down,” Paul said. “I don’t know why they don’t. But yeah, it’s slow. It’s definitely my latest match at the open.”
Paul set up a match against 23rd seed Alexander Babrik in the third round.
“Fun,” Paul said. “We’re ready for the next thing. Completely. That’s what we train.”
Paul, 28, from Portugal, was his second late-night epic of the year. Danil Medvedev is famous for blending in during the match on the first day of the US Open, a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4 defeat to Benjamin Bonji, who ended early on Monday.
In other men’s matches, top seed Jannik Sinner, No. Third seed Alexander Zverev and No. 8 seed Alex De Minaur won straight in the third round. The sinner won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, a year ago over Alexei Popilin, who defeated Novak Djokovic at the US Open. Zverev defeated Jacob Fianry 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, and past De Minaur, past Vucizki 6-2, 6-4, and 6-2.
In the biggest upset of the day, ninth seed Karen Kachanov looked to be heading for an easy victory, but Kamil Majakurzak returned to win 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
