New York: Daniel Evans defeated Karen Khachanov in the first-round marathon match that lasted for 5 hours and 35 minutes, making it the longest match in the history of the US Open.
The match which ended in Evans’ favour 6-7(8), 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, has all five sets lasted more than an hour. The third set was the longest at 72 minutes. It surpassed the previous record for the longest match by nine minutes.
The previous record for the longest match in Flushing Meadows was a 1992 men’s singles semifinal between American Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg. The Swede defeated Chang in a 5-hour, 26-minute match, to clinch his spot in the men’s final, where he went on to win the title against Pete Sampras.
“I was trying to just play, stay out there as long as possible at 4-Love and just see where I could get myself. It’s the longest I’ve ever been on a court. In the fourth set I had to check the set to see what set we was in. I wasn’t entirely sure what set we was in,” Evans said in the post-match interview.
Khachanov hit 79 winners to Evans’ 53, but it was not enough. The victor converted eight of his 18 break points compared to eight of 23 for Khachanov. The Brit also won 74% of points on his first serve, playing a key factor in his success, according to tournament website.
Evans won 201 total points to Khachanov’s 191 and now leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 5-0. IANS
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