Jannik Sinner dug himself out of a hole to defeat Denis Shapovalov and reach the fourth round of the US Open.
The defending champion has not lost a Grand Slam match on hard courts for two years, but he looked in real trouble at 3-0 down in the third set with the pair locked at one-set all.
Canadian Shapovalov, who had won their only previous meeting at the Australian Open four years ago, had a chance to make it 4-0, but Sinner saved the break point and won nine games in a row on the way to a 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory.
“It was a very, very tough match today,” said the world No 1 . “I know Denis since quite a long time. I knew I had to play at a very, very high level. I’m very happy that I managed to win. He started off very well. I just tried to stay there mentally.”
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Take a look at the outrageous lob that Sinner produced during his clash with Shapovalov…
Sinner again did not have his best serving day and, after clawing his way back from 2-5 in the opening set to 5-5, with Shapovalov unhappy about a foot fault call on a crucial point, the Italian double-faulted to lose the opening set.
Sinner has only lost one match to a player other than Carlos Alcaraz this season – to Alexander Bublik on grass in Halle – but he trailed Grigor Dimitrov by two sets to love at Wimbledon before the Bulgarian suffered a heart-breaking injury.
“I’m not a machine,” said Sinner with a smile. “I also struggle sometimes. Today I felt like from my side I didn’t struggle. I was playing great tennis, and he also.”
Shapovalov was left with mixed feelings, saying: “It’s obviously a tough loss. He’s number one for a reason, first of all. I had my chance. Was up in the third set. Obviously he played great to come back.
“This is the goal, just to have this level more consistently. I know I’m able to play this brand of tennis, this level of tennis. In a way, I’m happy. Obviously sad, as well, that I lost. But it’s definitely a good step forward for me.”
Sinner will next play either Kazakhstan’s 23rd seed Alexander Bublik or American 14th seed Tommy Paul in the next round.
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Sinner praised Shapovalov’s performance, admitting that the Canadian was a ‘difficult challenge’ to Sky Sports’ Tim Henman
Tenth seed Lorenzo Musetti has had a strong first week and he benefited from the retirement of fellow Italian Flavio Cobollo from injury in the third set of their contest.
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Jaume Munar confronts Zizou Bergs over his loud shouts during their match at the US Open
Andrey Rublev is showing improved form again after a difficult period, but the 15th seed needed five sets to overcome Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong and reach the fourth round for a fourth straight year.
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