Clutch Musetti saves two MPs to reach US Open third round

Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 18 seed, won against Serb Miomir Kecmanovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to advance to the third round of the US Open in New York on Wednesday night.

Musetti joined the list of male seeds to pull of great escapes on day three of the US Open, saving two match points en route to the third round.

The Olympics silver medallist rallied to break Kecmanovic at the perfect time too, trailing 5-4 in the decider and winning three games in a row to claim the match in three hours, 47 minutes.

The win means that since losing to Novak Djokovic at Roland-Garros, Musetti is now 21-6 in the second half of 2024.

Musetti, ranked No 18, will face American Brandon Nakashima next.

The 22-year-old Italian edged out American Reilly Opelka (7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5) ahead of his victory.

In the previous round of the US Open, Kecmanovic, ranked No 54, benefited from the abandonment of Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (7-6 (2), 2-6, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0).

New York (Grand Slam), other second-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):

• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
• Fabian Marozsan vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Max Purcell vs. Tommy Paul
• Mariano Navone vs. Daniel Evans
• Tristan Schoolkate vs. Jakub Mensik
• Arthur Fils vs. Gabriel Diallo
• Alex De Minaur vs. Otto Virtanen
• David Goffin vs. Adrian Mannarino
• Facundo Diaz Acosta vs. Jack Draper
• Flavio Cobolli vs. Zizou Bergs
• Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Nuno Borges
• Jannik Sinner vs. Alex Michelsen
• Jordan Thompson vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Matteo Arnaldi vs. Roman Safiullin
• Tomas Machac vs. Sebastian Korda
• Mattia Bellucci vs. Christopher O’Connell
• Laslo Djere vs. Novak Djokovic: thursday
• Matteo Berrettini vs. Taylor Fritz: thursday
• Casper Ruud vs. Gael Monfils: wednesday
• Ben Shelton (13) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• Alexei Popyrin (28) beat Pedro Martinez Portero: 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
• Juncheng Shang beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Francisco Comesana beat Ugo Humbert (17): 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Andrey Rublev (6) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
• Frances Tiafoe (20) beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-4, 6-1, 1-0 ret.
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Alexandre Muller (WC): 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Brandon Nakashima beat Arthur Cazaux: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Sebastian Baez (21): 6-1, 2-0 ret.
• Grigor Dimitrov (9) beat Rinky Hijikata: 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
• Jiri Lehecka (32) beat Mitchell Krueger (Q): 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Francisco Cerundolo (29): 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3