US Open: Paul holds off Davidovich Fokina, to meet fellow American Shelton in last 16

American Tommy Paul, the No 14 seed, reached the last 16 of the US Open by winning against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 21 seed, 6-1, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday afternoon.

After racing through the first two sets for the loss of only one game behind some strong serving and well timed approaches to the net, Paul did well to quell a resurgent Davidovich Fokina, who threated to take the match to a deciding set at one stage.

Paul repels Davidovich Fokina in crucial eighth game of fourth set

In an epic eighth game, the Spaniard had break back points to level the set after Paul had broken early in the fourth. Davidovich Fokina was playing fantastic tennis, accelerating on his forehand at will and pushing Paul back in the court.

However, the American repelled break points, targeting Davidovich Fokina’s backhand and rushing to the net to finish several points in the pivotal game. Following the hold, Paul went on to break again and claim the match.

Perhaps it was Paul’s newest fan who helped him get across the line:

Paul, ranked No 14, will face American Ben Shelton next. Ahead of his victory, the American defeated Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia (6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1) and pulled off a miraculous comeback to beat Russian Roman Safiullin (3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3).

Davidovich Fokina, ranked No 21, had beaten American Marcos Giron (6-4, 6-4, 6-2) and Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo (6-1, 6-4, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

New York (Grand Slam), other third-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Laslo Djere vs. Novak Djokovic
• Arthur Rinderknech vs. Andrey Rublev
• Michael Mmoh vs. Jack Draper
• Nicolas Jarry vs. Alex De Minaur
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Sebastian Baez
• Stan Wawrinka vs. Jannik Sinner
• Alexander Zverev vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Matteo Arnaldi vs. Cameron Norrie
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Daniel Evans
• Jakub Mensik vs. Taylor Fritz
• Borna Gojo vs. Jiri Vesely
• Dominic Stricker vs. Benjamin Bonzi
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Rinky Hijikata
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Ben Shelton vs. Aslan Karatsev: friday