Denis Shapovalov won the battle of North American young guns by grinding out a 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz to move into the US Open fourth round.
The match played out exactly as one would expect from two of tennis’s rising talents with the 12th-seeded Canadian Shapovalov and 19th seeded American Fritz engaged in a seesaw tussle.
The entertaining 3-1/2 hour match in an empty Arthur Ashe stadium ended with 21-year-old Shapovalov back in the last 16 at Flushing Meadows for the first time since he made his US Open debut in 2017.
The big-serving Fritz had a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fourth but Shapovalov grabbed the break he needed to drag the set to a tiebreak which he won.
Recharged by his rally, it was the Canadian who raced ahead 3-0 in the fifth before closing out the contest with another break when Fritz’s return sailed long.
Next up for Shapovalov is Belgium seventh seed David Goffin who was a 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 winner over Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic.