Former champion Marin Cilic withstood a tremendous challenge from Australian teenager Alex De Minaur to reach the fourth round of the US Open in one of the latest finishes in the tournament’s history.
As the clock hit 2.22am at Flushing Meadows, Cilic finally clinched a 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory on his eighth match point.
Little known prior to a breakthrough Australian summer, De Minaur has risen rapidly this season and showed the speed and fighting spirit that mark him out as one of the brightest hopes among the next generation.
? ??Cilic Survives!@cilic_marin rallies from two sets down to defeat De Minaur 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in a 4 hour epic!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/HeMDaf6aLP
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2018
For two sets, Cilic could not match him but the 2014 champion broke early in the third set and clawed his way back into the match.
The Croatian was on the brink of victory at 5-2 as he forced five match points on the De Minaur serve but the 19-year-old saved them all, and then one more before breaking Cilic back.
However, three more match points arrived in the 12th game and this time the Australian’s resistance ran out.
The match fell four minutes short of the record for the latest finish of 2.26am, which was set by Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors in 1993 and then matched in 2012 by Philipp Kohlschreiber and John Isner and 2014 by Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
Cilic moves through to a clash with 10th seed David Goffin on Monday.
