Australian Open: Kecmanovic saves match points against Paul to reach last 16

Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic would not be denied on Saturday at Melbourne Park. The unseeded 24-year-old saved a pair of match points in the fourth-set tiebreak then rifled through the decider to earn a 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-0 over 14th-seeded Tommy Paul.

60th-ranked Kecmanovic reaches the round of 16 in Melbourne for the second time in three years and will face the winner of the match between Chinese wildcard Juncheng Shang and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, next.

How did he get past Paul after being down and out late in the fourth?

“Honestly I have no idea,” he told the crowd. “It was supposed to be my day today I guess, and I had a bit more luck in the end.

“I played some fantastic tennis in the end and I’m really happy to be in the fourth round again.”

Kecmanovic won his second-round match with Jan-Lennard Struff in a fifth-set tiebreak, also saving a pair of match points in the process, as he finished off Struff by winning a grueling 33-stroke rally on match point.

Against Paul he saved match points at 5-6 and 6-7 in the fourth-set breaker, then won the final three points of the match to lock up the victory in three hours and 57 minutes.

The Serb edged out Japanese Yosuke Watanuki (4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4) and won against German Jan-Lennard Struff, the No 24 seed (6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (9)) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds, Paul, ranked No 14, beat Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (6-2, 6-3, 6-3) and edged out Jack Draper (6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5).

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Australian Open: Kecmanovic overcomes Struff to book spot in third round

Tennis Majors

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Alexander Zverev vs. Alex Michelsen
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Cameron Norrie vs. Casper Ruud
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nuno Borges
• Juncheng Shang vs. Carlos Alcaraz: saturday
• Arthur Cazaux vs. Tallon Griekspoor: saturday
• Ugo Humbert vs. Hubert Hurkacz: saturday
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Sebastian Korda (29): 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4
• Alex De Minaur (10) beat Flavio Cobolli (Q): 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Novak Djokovic (1) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30): 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Adrian Mannarino (20) beat Ben Shelton (16): 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) beat Luca Van Assche: 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Fabian Marozsan: 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Sebastian Baez (26): 6-0, 6-1, 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (15) beat Tomas Machac: 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5)