There is something magical about Lucas Pouille at the US Open. For the second straight year, the Frenchman claimed a five-set thriller in New York, battling to reach the third round on Wednesday.

Pouille refused to succumb to #NextGenATP home hope Jared Donaldson, prevailing 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 after three hours and 27 minutes. It was a war of attrition in front of a packed crowd on Court 17, as Donaldson battled back from two sets down and looked to be in prime position to complete the comeback. But Pouille would hold his nerve in the decider, breaking for 5-4 and holding to love to close out the victory.

“The crowd was not really cheering for me, but it was an exciting match and very close,” said Pouille. “I just told myself that it’s a new match starting at two sets all. I put everything behind me and stayed focused on my serve and I took that opportunity on return.”

“There’s room for improvement, which is good,” Donaldson said. “Such a close match. But the fact that I come off the court and say I know there’s things I need to work on is a good thing because if I had nothing left to work on, then I’d be in trouble losing that match. It’s obviously disappointing, but there’s always tomorrow.”

Last year, Pouille stunned Rafael Nadal in a deciding tie-break in front of an electric atmosphere on Arthur Ashe Stadium, reaching the quarter-finals. The 23 year old will look to extend his strong run of form at Flushing Meadows when he faces qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin next.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Marin Cilic notched a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Florian Mayer. The 2014 champion prevailed after one hour and 40 minutes, launching 51 winners, including 18 aces. The Croatian is making his first appearance since finishing runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon, having struggled with an adductor injury in recent weeks.

Cilic will next face 29th seed Diego Schwartzman, a 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 winner over former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic. The Argentine is into the third round in New York for the first time in four appearances.

In other action, 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta has not dropped a set en route to the third round, downing qualifier Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. Having defeated Evan King in the first round, Carreno Busta will face a third straight qualifier to open the tournament when he clashes against Nicolas Mahut on Friday. Mahut captured back-to-back five set wins over Marton Fucsovics and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, upsetting the 20th-seeded Spaniard 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in three hours and 27 minutes.

The #NextGenATP bragging rights belong to Borna Coric after the Croat’s upset of No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday. In the battle of the 20-year-old former junior rivals, Coric retained his unbeaten record against the German with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-6(4) upset on Grandstand.

“Of course I needed it … I had a rough few months,” Coric said. “I was struggling with my neck injury. I was not really sure what it is. I didn’t play … So it does mean a lot definitely. It’s going to give me some extra confidence. But at the end of the day, it’s only a tennis match. [In a] day and a half I have another one. We will see.”

“I mean, it’s that NextGen thing the ATP is promoting, also what we are promoting,” Coric said. “I think it’s actually quite cool. I think it does help us, as well, to put us on the map.

“I don’t see it as a big rivalry. I think we all have our paths, our careers. We need to go in our way. I’m trying not to look at the other guys. Trying to look at myself, to improve my game, to improve my tennis.”

After dropping serve at 2-3 in the opening set, the Croat landed his first break of the match with Zverev serving to stay in the second set at 5-6. With the contest locked up at a set apiece, neither player would be broken again.

Staring down triple set point on serve at 5-6 in the fourth set, Coric remained composed to reel off five straight points and force the fourth-set tie-break. It left the German having converted just one of 11 break-point opportunities.

In the tie-break it was Zverev who looked the tighter of the pair. He threw his arms up in despair when Coric rifled a forehand pass for 5/2. The Croat brought up two match points with a huge serve drawing the smash and he took it when Zverev sailed one final forehand long.

It throws the bottom half of the draw even wider open with No.5 seed Marin Cilic, the highest remaining seed after just the second round. Coric will face South African 28th seed Kevin Anderson for a place in the fourth round. In a clash of former Top 10 opponents, Anderson handed Latvian Ernests Gulbis an unwanted 29th birthday present when he posted a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory. 

It was a draw the fourth-seeded Zverev was all too aware of, an opportunity he was left to rue. His quest to progress beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time continues.

“It’s upsetting because the draw is pretty open in the bottom part,” Zverev said. “I felt like I should have been favoured there. You know, I just played a very, very bad match, so it’s unfortunate. But that’s how it is.”

John Isner is through to his ninth straight US Open third round, with the big-serving American coasting past #NextGenATP South Korean Hyeon Chung on Wednesday. The No. 10 seed moved through with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 result to improve his unbeaten run in second-round matches at Flushing Meadows to 10-0.

Chung had arrived in New York City at a career-high No. 47 in the Emirates ATP Rankings but was no match for his opponent’s 30 aces. Isner is 14-3 since Wimbledon, with title runs in Newport and Atlanta as well as a semi-final finish at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. He will face 23rd seed Mischa Zverev after the German’s 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-5 victory over Frenchman Benoit Paire. It was Zverev’s second straight five-set triumph, having beaten American Thai-Son Kwiatkowski in the opening round.

Isner’s compatriot Sam Querrey also advanced to the third round. The 17th seed easily accounted for Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. “Everything felt great today,” Querrey said. “I mean, Dudi is a tricky player. He’s got a fan club behind him. They’re loud, they’re cheering on their guy. “I felt like I did a good job of just putting pressure on him, staying in front, coming to the net, serving big. I feel like when I do that against anyone, I’m pretty tricky.”

Very few players have been chasing a goal for as long as Adrian Menendez-Maceiras. He never surrendered and, on a sunny Wednesday morning, he received the prize of his life: his first Grand Slam main draw win. He made it at the US Open, defeating American wild card Patrick Kypson 6-4, 7-6(9), 6-1 after two hours and 31 minutes.

“It was in the works,” said the 31-year-old Spaniard. “Every player dreams of something like this.”

If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Even if it takes 10 times. At No. 148 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Menendez-Maceiras came to Flushing Meadows for the 10th time in his career. He had never advanced through the qualifying draw. But this time everything was different.

“Those opportunities haven’t been around very often in my career. I’ve played just three main draw matches at a Grand Slam and your chances of winning are minimal.”

The Spaniard had previously fallen twice in the first round of a Grand Slam. At Wimbledon in 2012 he fell to Michael Russell and at the Australian Open in 2013 to Jeremy Chardy. The third time was charm. A drama-filled match brought the biggest joy of his career. He needed to play over the course of two days due to persistent rain that postponed the conclusion of his opener.

“It has been harder than expected and the toughest match of the week in New York. I qualified on Friday and didn’t play again until Tuesday. Then, the match was suspended and it forces you to prepare once again. It has been really hard because I had a good chance and the nerves always arise.”

Menendez-Maceiras says he fought those demons to overcome the obstacle. “I struggled to sleep before the match. Once I knew how my opponent played, I calmed down. I couldn’t analyze him on video because he has not played many pro matches. I think he has a bright future ahead. He has a developed game, a great serve and we will hear things about him in the coming years.”

In the second round, the veteran will face 24th seed and 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro. It will be their first meeting and the match he has been dreaming of his entire life, in search of his first Top 50 win.

“This is a prize,” says the Spaniard. “I prefer to play against him in the second round rather than in the opener. We came here with a goal that has been accomplished. Right now I have to enjoy it and try to fight.”

Juan Martin del Potro, the charismatic and popular Argentinean, got his US Open campaign off to a strong start on Wednesday when he defeated Swiss Henri Laaksonen 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in two hours and 33 minutes.

Appearing at the US Open for the fifth time since he captured the 2009 trophy, No. 24 seed del Potro lost his serve only once and struck 15 aces, among 32 winners, for his 25th match win at Flushing Meadows. Eight years ago, del Potro snapped Roger Federer’s 40-match winning streak at the major in a five-set final win.

’The Tower of Tandil’, who features in sixth seed Dominic Thiem’s quarter of the draw, will now meet Spaniard Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, who recorded his first major championship win over American Patrick Kypson 6-4 7-6(9), 6-1. At the age of 31, Menendez-Maceiras had qualified for his first main draw in his 10th attempt in New York. He is a two-time winner on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, in Leon, Mexico and Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Dominic Thiem, one of the hardest working players on the ATP World Tour, completed his rain-interrupted first-round encounter against wild card Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in one hour and 49 minutes on Wednesday at the US Open. The pair’s first meeting restarted on Grandstand with Thiem leading 1-0 in the third set.

The sixth-seeded Austrian won 10 straight games from a 0-1 deficit in the second set against his 18-year-old Australian opponent and will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis or #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz in the second round.

“Sets two and three were really decent, and the biggest thing I have to do now is probably to just continue like this, because the first set was not good,” said Thiem. “It was [a] pretty nervous start, but then it really got better. I [will] try to start off tomorrow like I finished yesterday and today.”

Thiem, contesting his 21st tournament of the season, has posted a 42-19 match record in 2017. Over the next fortnight, he will be hoping to better his US Open fourth-round runs in 2014 (l. to Berdych) and 2016 (l. to del Potro), and also further improve his chances of qualifying for the second straight year to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 7-11 November at The O2 in London.

Later in the day, Czech No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych extended his perfect record (4-0) against American Ryan Harrison with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory for a place in the second round. Berdych, the 2012 semi-finalist, recovered from a 0-3 deficit in the first set and saved one set point 5-6 in the third set, when Harrison served at 40/30. He now challenges Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov or Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

Basking in the surrounds of a closed-roof home-crowd atmosphere on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Frances Tiafoe admits a five-set defeat to Roger Federer only serves as motivation. The #NextGenATP American fell 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 to the No. 3 seed but the words of encouragement he received at net reassured him he was on the right track.

“Great year so. You’re only getting better and better. Keep going, you’re going to have one hell of a future,” Tiafoe said the Swiss great told him. With rain washing out most of the day’s play, a closed roof only amplified the electric New York City atmosphere on Tuesday night. Tiafoe was feeding off the home support.

“The crowd was getting behind me pretty good,” Tiafoe said. “I like to get the crowd pretty into it, especially in the fourth, when I was playing pretty much [playing] lights out. 

“I was getting pretty hyped. They were liking that. I’m pretty sure they would have liked me to have sneaked that one out. But, yeah, the guy’s just too good.”

The 19 year old said he did not feel overly nervous about the showdown with the five-time champion. After he broke in the opening game of the match he certainly appeared to have settled the quicker of the two. 

A break-back when the Swiss was serving for the match at 5-3 in the fifth set provided momentary hope and whipped the New York City crowd into a frenzy, but the contest was over a game later when Tiafoe surrendered serve at the two-hour, 40-minute mark. The American was left with little doubt in his mind as to Federer’s standing in the game.

“He is the greatest, yeah,” Tiafoe said before he elaborated on what made the 36 year old so tough. “Go down the list. I mean, I can’t read his serve. He jumps on the return ball better than anyone, doesn’t give the baseline up. I mean, he takes time away, best mover by far. Yeah, he just sees the game completely different than everybody else … He’s unbelievable.”

It was the type match the World No. 70 in the Emirates ATP Rankings had dreamt of playing. The result would only drive him to work harder. “It’s the only reason I play the game,” he said of the match.

“Every day I thought I would be here. I always told my dad that. Finally, I had the opportunity to do it. It means the world to me. I’m happy that my brother, my mum, my dad, everyone got to see it.”