Jérôme Kym reaches 3rd round after five-set thriller

In his first ever five-set match, Kym, the world number 175, showed strong nerves. After 4:23 hours, he won the decisive match tiebreak of the fifth set 10:8. In the third round, he will face last year's finalist and world number four Taylor Fritz. An appearance in one of the two big stadiums is therefore guaranteed.

The match against Nakashima was a real rollercoaster ride, especially in the fifth set. Right at the start of the deciding set, Kym managed to break for 2:0 - thanks to a double fault from Nakashima. However, the 22-year-old from Aargau then fell behind 2:3 with a break before recovering. At 5:4 and with the American serving, he was only two points short of victory.

In general, the Grand Slam debutant from Fricktal showed stronger nerves in the decisive moments than the world number 31. In total, Nakashima gave up his serve three times with a double fault. In a battle of attrition with many ups and downs, the Swiss was never decisively shaken off by the much more experienced American. Kym never trailed in the match tiebreak.

In the end, the numbers would have made a draw the logical result - which, as we all know, doesn't happen in tennis. Kym was the slightly more active player, often dictating the points with his strong service (26 aces). In the end, this resulted in 59 winners - one more than Nakashima - and 51 unforced errors (compared to 50).

For Kym, who has so often been set back by injuries in the past, this is by far the biggest success of his career. He will also leap into the top 150 in the world rankings and earn at least 237,000 dollars in New York.