Clawing his way back from 0-4 in the deciding fifth set, Britain's Dan Evans trumped Russia's Karen Khachanov early Wednesday morning (August 28, 2024) in what became the longest match in US Open history since tie-breakers were introduced in 1970. (More Tennis News)
Ranked a lowly 184th as against 23rd seed Khachanov, Evans scripted a remarkable turnaround to win 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4. The first-round match lasted five hours and 35 minutes. The previous US Open record for the lengthiest match was 5 hours and 26 minutes, when Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in a five-setter in the 1992 semi-finals.
The 34-year-old Evans ran away with the last six games in the final set to overcome the 0-4 deficit. In the last game, Khachanov saved two match points, before eventually succumbing to the third one which fittingly was a marathon 22-shot rally. Evans was on the defensive for much of the point, before hitting a hard shot to the corner that Khachanov couldn’t retrieve with his backhand.
All Evans could do to celebrate in the moment was smile, before collapsing into his chair out of exhaustion. The two players earned standing ovations from a thrilled crowd on a packed outside court at Flushing Meadows.
“In the fourth set, I had to check the set to see what set we were in. I wasn’t entirely sure what set we were in,” Associated Press quoted Evans as saying after the match.
“I was hurting all over, really,” said Evans, who was clutching his lower legs and resting his hands on his knees repeatedly in the final set. “I don’t think I’ve played five hours, that long, in a day, ever — in two sessions, never mind in one. I was actually thinking that on the court. I’ve never practised two hours, two hours. It’s normally an hour and a half.”
"I just tried to keep fighting – at 0-4 I thought I was out," Evans told Sky Sports. "I’ve got a bad headache now. It was a hell of a match. I just want to go to bed."
