Dan Evans created history when he climbed off the canvas to win the longest-ever match at the US Open.
Evans looked dead and buried against Russian Karen Khachanov when a gruelling encounter in blistering conditions took its toll and he trailed 4-0 in the fifth-set decider.
But the 34-year-old, whose season has been disrupted by injury, poor form and prioritising the Olympics, launched the ultimate comeback, winning six games in a row to claim an amazing 6-7 (6) 7-6 (2) 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-4 victory.
It took a mammoth five hours and 35 minutes, which broke a 32-year-old record at Flushing Meadows set when Stefan Edberg beat Michael Chang in five hours and 26 minutes in 1992.
How Evans pulls up after this marathon remains to be seen but he will cherish his piece of history, which was also his first Grand Slam victory of 2024.
He could easily have won in straight sets had he taken his opportunities, missing seven set points in an opener he eventually lost.
Evans regrouped, though, and in a topsy-turvy battle, won the next two sets, both on tiebreaks. The fourth set appeared to prove pivotal and when Khachanov broke at 4-4 he sent it a decider.
Evans was visibly flagging physically at this point and his mood worsened after being broken in the opening game as he smashed his racket on the floor.
The Russian sensed blood and looked to have moved into an unassailable position when he led 4-0 in the decider.
But, despite being out on his feet and barely able to walk in between points, Evans somehow reeled off six successive games to earn a record-breaking victory.
It was a good start elsewhere for the Brits on day one in New York, with men’s No1 Jack Draper leading Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-3 6-0 4-0 when the latter was forced to retire due to injury.
British women’s No1 Katie Boulter also booked her place in the second round despite dropping the first set against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, eventually winning 5-7 6-2 6-1.
2021 women’s singles champion Emma Raducanu gets her campaign underway on Tuesday night against American Sofia Kenin.
