Vasek Pospisil surprised Saturday at the US Open by knocking out eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and 11th in the world in five sets of 7-5, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2.
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The victory saw him reach the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows for the first time in his career. Pospisil, who is now ranked 94th in the world, needed 3 h 40 min to overcome Bautista Agut, who took him down. had won in their three previous clashes.
In the round of 16, the 30-year-old Canadian will face off against Alex de Minaur, 28th in the world, who defeated Karen Khachanov of Russia in the third round. The 21-year-old Australian has won both of his career matches against Pospisil.
This is only the second time in his career that Pospisil has advanced to week two of a Grand Slam singles tournament. The first was at Wimbledon, in 2015, where he reached the quarter-finals.
“I’m really excited,” said the Canadian in an interview with ATP. Every time you manage to win against the best, it’s huge. To do it in a tournament like this and to qualify for the fourth round of a Grand Slam, it’s a really big event. ”
Attacking game The British Columbian relied on his serve to break a deadlock as he trailed two sets to one against Bautista Agut. Ultimately, Pospisil had 19 aces against two for his opponent, and won 75% of the points when his first ball was in play. He also outscored the Spaniard 71-21 in winning shots.
With his style more focused on attack, the Canadian is also the one who committed the most unforced errors, 65 to 27 for his opponent. He also recorded seven double faults.
Pospisil had four service breaks and only conceded three in 15 occasions to Bautista Agut.
“I played really good tennis the whole way. It was more difficult physically in the second and third sets then the shadow came, which helped me a lot. My game was solid throughout the game. I was very relaxed, I went there for my shots, I stuck to my game plan, to my strengths. It worked very well. ”
Pospisil will now prepare for another great physical challenge facing de Minaur. “He’s a very tough opponent, very fit, who can run all day, a bit like Roberto. I’m just going to stick with my game and we’ll see what happens. ”
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