Paul denies spirited Borges in late-night thriller to move into third round of US Open

American Tommy Paul, the No 14 seed, defeated Portuguese Nuno Borges 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Thursday to reach the third round of the US Open.

Paul and Borges fought for four hours, 24 minutes. Their battle finished at 1:46 am (local time) when the Portuguese failed to execute a volley after a backbreaking rally.

In total, the duo played for 363 points, out of which the American grabbed 188. Also, he recorded 11 aces, 46 winners and 62 percent average on the second-serve return, breaking his opponent’s serve eight times.

Paul was in touching distance of the win when he brought up two match points on Borges’ serve in the 10th game of the third set, but the spirited Portuguese held and further fought back to draw level. He, however, didn’t mess up on his third match point in the decider while returning.

“When you’re up two sets to love, you never want to lose a match like that,” Paul said in his on-court interview. “It was my first five-set match on Ashe, so it was cool to do it at night and definitely cool to get a win.”

The world No 14 will face Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the No 23 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the American won against Dane Elmer Moller (6-3, 6-3, 6-1).

Borges, ranked No 41, beat American Brandon Holt (6-4, 6-2, 6-3) in the previous round of the US Open.

New York (Grand Slam), other second-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 90.000.000, most recent results first):

• Alex De Minaur (8) beat Shintaro Mochizuki (Q): 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
• Daniel Altmaier beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (26): 7-6 (5), 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (25) beat Roman Safiullin: 6-1, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
• Alexander Zverev (3) beat Jacob Fearnley: 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Alexander Bublik beat Tristan Schoolkate (WC): 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
• Jaume Munar beat Gabriel Diallo (31): 7-5, 6-3, 7-5
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Alexei Popyrin: 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (24) beat Jenson Brooksby: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (3)
• Leandro Riedi (Q) beat Francisco Cerundolo (19): 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Kamil Majchrzak beat Karen Khachanov (9): 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Denis Shapovalov (27) beat Valentin Royer (WC): 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (15) beat Tristan Boyer (WC): 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4)
• Chak Lam Coleman Wong (Q) beat Adam Walton: 7-6 (5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (10) beat David Goffin: 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
• Ben Shelton (6) beat Pablo Carreno Busta: 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
• Zizou Bergs beat Jack Draper (5): W/O
• Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Mattia Bellucci: 6-1, 6-0, 6-3
• Jan-Lennard Struff (Q) beat Holger Rune (11): 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
• Adrian Mannarino beat Jordan Thompson: 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3
• Luciano Darderi (32) beat Eliot Spizzirri (WC): 6-0, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Martin Damm (Q): 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (8), 7-5
• Ugo Blanchet (Q) beat Jakub Mensik (16): 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7)
• Arthur Rinderknech beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (18): 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
• Cameron Norrie beat Francisco Comesana: 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 (4)
• Benjamin Bonzi beat Marcos Giron: 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (4) beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4
• Raphael Collignon beat Casper Ruud (12): 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Tomas Machac (21) beat Joao Fonseca: 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic (7) beat Zachary Svajda (Q): 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Jiri Lehecka (20) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
• Jerome Kym (Q) beat Brandon Nakashima (30): 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8)

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