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2014 champion Marin Cilic will play in the fourth round of the Us Open but only after a hard-fought 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5 in three hours and 59 minutes, winning the last point at 2:22 am for the fourth latest finish in the US Open history! Marin is now 29-14 in the five-setters and he has come from two sets to love deficit for the sixth time in his career. The youngster played at a very high level and he had a huge chance to defeat one of the favorites after taking that two sets to love lead, also saving six match points in the deciding set before Marin broke him in the last game of the match to avoid a deciding tie break and book his place in the last 16.
Cilic struggled on his second serve and he had to play against 13 break points, getting broken seven times to offer a great opportunity to de Minaur to send out another of the top seeds after Kohlschreiber toppled Alexander Zverev.
On the other hand, the Croat also scored seven breaks but from no less than 27 break points which just shows how well Alex played, giving his best to stay in touch as long as possible. De Minaur had 37 winners and 36 unforced errors while Marin fired 60 winners and 70 errors and nothing could separate them on the court until the very last point, with both players scoring 166 points! They traded breaks in games two and three and it was Alex who took charge after that, dropping just four points in the last four service games and earning a break at 3-3 to take the opener 6-4.
Marin was struggling to find his range and de Minaur's returns have proved to be too much for him to handle in set number two as well, losing serve three times and finding himself 6-4 6-3 down, with no room for further errors.
He finally started to play better in set number three, saving the only break point he faced to break Alex's serve in game three and nine for a 6-3, gaining the momentum and carrying it through the fourth set as well, serving well and keeping the pressure on the youngster.
De Minaur saved five break points in the eighth game but he got broken at 4-5 to hand the set to the better-ranked opponent, having to score a win in the fifth set if he wanted to go throw and perform an upset. They traded breaks in games three and four and Marin made a big step towards the finish line with another break in game six, opening a 5-2 lead and forcing Alex to serve to stay in the set.
The Aussie fends off five match points to survive and prolong the match, fending off another match point on the return in game nine to reduce his deficit to 4-5. De Minaur held at 30 in game 10 and just when the tie break became inevitable Marin broke him in the last game of the match to seal the deal and complete a big comeback to stay on the title course. Third round results:
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