By Chris Soderstrom
Australia’s Chris Guccione kept the nation’s hopes alive in the men’s draw coming out trumps against America’s Jesse Levine on day three of the US Open.
The monster 200cm Guccione defied the fate of team-mates Carsten Ball and Robert Smeets, who both suffered opening defeats, and nailed an impressive 32 aces en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(6) victory.
“I haven’t won too many of these Grand Slam matches so this feels pretty good,” said the left-hander. “It was really about self-belief. I am feeling more and more comfortable in best-of-five set matches and I thought I handled it pretty well today.”
The Melbournian reaches the second round at Flushing Meadows for the first time, securing a second round match with 28 th seed Radek Stepanek.
“I had a really good match against James Blake at the Olympics. I feel like I can keep this roll going.”
The 23-year-old is on course to play four-time defending champion Roger Federer in the third round if he continues his winning ways.
Meanwhile, third seed Novak Djokovic kept his dream of bettering a runner-up finish in last year’s US Open alive by shrugging off an injury scare.
The Serb overcame an injury to his left foot to defeat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.