Marin Cilic battle past Alex de Minaur 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5 to advance at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Cilic may have been justified in expecting an easier pathway past the third round, but De Minaur has already earned a reputation for having an abundance of fighting spirit in his relatively short career.
De Minaur started on the front foot, running down everything Cilic sent over the net to carve out a 2-0 lead.
Cilic rallied behind his big serve but De Minaur made the Croatian work hard for every point all the way to the bitter end at 2.22 a.m. local time (0622 GMT), only a few minutes short of the latest ever finish at the U.S. Open.
