MIKHAIL Kukushkin has outlasted Chilean 13th seed Cristian Garin to win in five sets today, setting up a third round encounter at the US Open with Australian Jordan Thompson. The 32-year-old Kazakhstan player won the first two sets with ease, before Garin hit back in the next two to level the match at two sets all, like he had done in the first round. Unlike that Round of 128 great escape over American wildcard Ulises Blanch, Garin was not able to pull off another come-from-behind victory and went down in five sets, 6-2 6-1 3-6 4-6 7-5 in four hours.

Ranked 90th in the world, Kukushkin was able to go toe-for-toe with the world number 19, hitting 45 winners apiece, though Kukushkin had six less unforced errors (41-47). While not completely dominant after the first couple of sets, Kukushkin still won all the key stats, recording a 59 per cent serving efficiency (compared to 54 per cent), 70 per cent first serve winning ratio (66 per cent) and 47 per cent second serve winning ratio (39 per cent). He was also able to capitalise on break point opportunities better, with nine from 13 – with five of those coming in the first two sets, and the last of those coming in the deciding fifth set – compared to Garin’s six of 16 success rate. The Chilean was able to serve double the aces (12-6), but unfortunately it did not help the knock on him being a clay specialist who struggles on hard court in big tournaments.

Now Kukushkin will face off against Australian Thompson, who booked his spot in the Round of 16 with a 6-1 6-4 3-6 6-3 triumph over Belarusian Egor Gerasimov. The Belarusian was coming off a good win over 18th seed Dusan Lajovic, but it was Thompson that fired from early on, racing through the first set, then going 2-0 up before the world number 72 won the third set. The Sydney-born Thompson is ranked nine places higher than his opponent, but he was largely made to fight off a fierce, but erratic Gerasimov. The Belarusian smashed 23 winners (six less than Thompson) but 51 unforced errors in a match he would rather like to forget, winning just 35 per cent of points off his second serve, whilst Thompson won 57 per cent of those to go with 72 per cent off his first serve as well as eight aces.

In terms of the top seeds, Novak Djokovic moved to 25-0 in season 2020 with a 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Kyle Edmund. He did not have it all his own way against the Brit, but when the Serbian is winning 83 per cent of his first serve points off a 67 per cent success rate with 16 aces, very few could stop him. Edmund was not bad, doing well of his own service, but winning just 25 per cent of his return points compared to Djokovic’s 42 per cent. Now the Serbian meets Jan-Lennard Struff for the third time this year, after the German 28th seed got past American Michael Mmoh in straight sets, 6-2 6-2 7-5. Also through to the Round of 16 was fifth seed Alexander Zverev making it two Germans into the third round, defeating American 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima in four sets, 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-1. While Zverev got through, he admitted Nakashima – who only made his ATP Tour debut in January – was one to look out for in the future.

“Obviously I didn’t want to lose the second set, but I know that if I play my game I can still win,” Zverev said post-match. “So it was one set all, everything was still open. “He’s a good player [and] has an incredible backhand… “He’s a great player, I think, with great potential. “His serve surprised me a lot, because he doesn’t serve very fast. “But his placement is incredible. “He can go any corner. “He has all the serves that you need. “His second serve is incredibly good.”

Zverev will shape up against Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino who won against former top 10 player Jack Sock in straight sets, 7-6 7-5 6-2. The winner of that match will face off against either Cameron Norrie or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with the two unseeded players making it through to the Round of 16. Norrie backed up his win against Diego Schwartzman in Round 1 with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over another Argentinian in Federico Coria, while Davidovich Fokina upset rising talent, Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

At the other end of the draw, seventh seed David Goffin will take on the in-form 26th seed Filip Krajinovic, while Taylor Fritz was the only American – out of seven – to move from the second to the third round. Fritz got up 7-5 6-3 6-2 over Gilles Simon to book a date with Canadian young star, Denis Shapovalov who survived a dogfight against South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon, 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-2. Meanwhile Pablo Carreno Busta had an easy second round encounter to roll past American wildcard Mitchell Krueger, 6-1 6-2 6-2 to come up against Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis who won in four sets against Steve Johnson. In the remaining two matches, 27th seed Borna Coric got through in a five-set thriller against Argentinian Juan Ignacio Londero to take on Greek star, Stefanos Tsitsipas who was matched at times by little known American world number 168 – or the next John Isner at 201cm- Maxime Cressy, but got there in the end.

Picture: Rhea Nall/USTA