British tennis player Dan Evans has broken the record for the longest match ever played at the US Open.
The 34-year-old, who beat Andy Murray during the Scottish farewell at the Olympic Games in Parismet Russian Karen Khachanov in the first round at Flushing Meadows in New York.
The pair endured a grueling encounter in scorching conditions as the match lasted a mammoth five hours and 35 minutes.
Evans (below) competed against Russian Karen Khachanov. Image: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock
This broke a 32-year-old US Open record set in 1992 when Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in five hours and 26 minutes.
The marathon match lasted so long that in the fourth set, Evans lost track of what set they were in and had to look it up.
“I really don’t want to do that again, that’s for sure,” Evans said after the match.
At the time the game was played, you could have driven from Sky News in west London to Scotland.
After failing to capitalise on his early chances, Evans seemed to be finished later when he found himself 4-0 down in the deciding set of the fifth set.
But following his impressive Olympic comebackEvans won six games in a row in the final set to claim a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 victory.
After Evans’ victory, Murray reposted a clip of the game-deciding match point on X and wrote: “Goosebumps.”
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After the fight, Evans said: “I think as a kid you’re just told to fight to the end.
“That’s rule number one, so to speak. I’ve done that pretty consistently throughout my career.
“It kind of paid off today.
“I’m incredibly proud that I got through the game. I think that’s the prevailing feeling, more than anything else.”
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Evans added: “I’ve played a lot of first rounds this year. It’s nice to win a match.”
While Jack Draper and Katie Boulter celebrated victories, a tearful Emma Raducanu admitted she had to “start all over again” after her first-round loss to Sofia Kenin.
