The Canadian went the distance to knock out one of the top seeds of the tournament.
Vasek Pospisil is into the second round of the US Open after coming back from two sets down to beat the Italian and number 28 seed Fabio Fognini 2-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 in three hours and 18 minutes on a packed court 10 serving 23 aces in the win.
“Coming down from two sets to love against a great player kinda had to get it together after a pretty shaky start and it’s an incredible match for sure.”
The Italian got off to a great start holding the first service game of the match and getting the early break to take a 2-0 lead and served out the first set pretty comfortably.
The second set went also the Italian’s way as the first three games of the set went with serve before the world number 31 got another break to take a 3-1 lead and that break was enough once again for him to serve it out and take a two set to love lead.
The third set is where things started to turn in the Canadian favor as he broke in the second game of the set to take a 2-0 lead and would go on to get another break of serve and dominate the set to take it 6-1.
The fourth set was probably the most competitive set of tennis we saw in the match as both players did a good job holding serve until 4-3 when the Vernon, BC native earned the crucial break and served out the set to send it to a deciding fifth set.
The Italian responded in the fifth set holding the opening service game and breaking in the second game but at 4-2, the world number 58 responded by getting the break back.
The set and the match were decided by a tiebreaker and in that breaker, Pospisil jumped out to a 3-0 lead and that lead was sufficient enough for him to serve out the match and complete the comeback.
After the match in an on-court interview, Pospisil spoke about being down a break in the fifth set and how he was able to keep it together and eventually pull through for an amazing win.
“I was playing well and I was trying to stay positive and wait for my opportunity and encouraging myself and obviously it doesn’t happen every time and I give myself the best opportunity with my mindset to come back and win this one.”
Pospisil will next face the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka in the second round of the US Open.
