No. 5 seed Casper Ruud of Norway took four hours and 23 minutes to defeat No. 29 seed Tommy Paul of the U.S. 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-0 Friday in the third round of the U.S. Open in New York.
Ruud survived the marathon match, and Paul’s 12 aces, by winning 70 of his 98 first-service points (71.4 percent).
Paul saved 11 of 18 break points, converted five of his six break-point attempts and held a 61-37 edge in winners. But Paul also committed 82 unforced errors compared to Ruud’s 50.
“We both were playing well,” said Ruud, the first man from Norway to reach the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open. “Whenever someone broke, the other guy seemed to break back right away, so it was tough to get the lead and keep going with it. We were always close on the scoreline. It seemed like the only time I could break him was when I was broken first, so that’s not a good sign, but in the fifth set I played some of my best tennis this year and the best tennis I’ve played this tournament.”
Ruud will play Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the fourth round. Moutet – a lucky-loser entry into the draw – got by Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta beat Australian 18th sed Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to advance. Carreno Busta will face Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the 27th seed, in the next round.
Khachanov advanced when third-round opponent Jack Draper of Great Britain retired with Khachanov leading 6-3, 4-6, 6-5. Draper was coming off an upset of Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the previous round.
Andy Murray of Great Britain also bowed out Friday, with No. 13 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy capturing a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win in three hours and 47 minutes.
“I wasn’t aggressive enough with the break points [in the third set] but that is tennis,” Berrettini said. “I think Andy played a really good set in order to not get broken, but I was feeling better. I had more chances and I thought the same thing in the fourth set. I had my chance and I took it.”
Berrettini will play Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Round of 16. Davidovich Fokina took care of business against Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Two primetime matches slated for Friday night pitted No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia against China’s Yibing Wu and Australian No. 23 seed Nick Kyrgios against American J.J. Wolf. Medvedev and Kyrgios would meet each other in the fourth round if they both advance.
–Field Level Media