Roberto Bautista Agut was forced to grind out a five-set victory over Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
The Spaniard was pushed all of the way by an opponent who is ranked 110 in the world, but eventually triumphed 5-7 7-6(1) 1-6 7-5 6-1 at the New York major.
Haider-Maurer took a first set which went with serve until the 11th game, thanks largely to limiting Bautista Agut to only one break-point opportunity.
The Austrian grew in confidence as he broke to love in the opening game of the second and then saved three break points to open up a 3-1 lead, but Bautista Agut fought back to force a tie-break.
The 17th seed dominated the breaker, but could not take this momentum into the third as Haider-Maurer won the first three games and then claimed another break on his way to regaining his match lead.
An hour-long fourth set summed up the topsy-turvy nature of the encounter, with Bautista Agut racing into a 5-2 advantage before he wasted three set points and lost his serve to give Haider-Maurer a reprieve.
The two-time ATP Tour winner eventually took the set at the fifth attempt, and did not look back as he broke twice early on in the decider on his way to securing a hard-fought victory in just under four hours.
Joe Fish
