Marin Cilic has beaten Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-7 6-1 to progress to the fourth round of the US Open.
Both players lost serve early in the first set, and after Cilic tried to take control by breaking again in the eighth game, Kukushkin immediately responded.
A tie-break was needed to separate the two competitors, and it was Kukushkin who took advantage of a poor shot from Cilic, who smashed his racquet on the floor as his 16 set wins in a row came to an end.
After taking a one-set lead, Kukushkin swung the momentum in his direction and went a break up, but Cilic kept him on his toes with a break back.
Kukushkin, whose previous best finish at the US Open was the third round, managed to prevent Cilic from taking set point, but this time he was poor in the tie-break as the last year's champion took it 7-1.
With the match at 1-1, it was an even start to the third set as games went by way of serve until Cilic found a crucial break point, which was enough to push him into the lead at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Cilic battled to a break point in the opening game of the first set and he looked to find his feet again as he managed to save two break points on his next serve.
Kukushkin failed to go away though, as the Kazakh pro broke to equal the set at 3-3, and another tie-break was needed to decide the fourth set.
Both players showed strength on the court, but Cilic was unable to prevent the match from going into a fifth and final set Kukushkin edged the tie-break 7-3 in New York.
Cilic found his form once again in the final set, and broke serve twice to race into a 5-0 lead. Kukushkin finally won a game but Cilic finished him off at the next attempt to progress to the next round.
Danielle Joynson
