Paris — Japanese 27th seed Yoshihito Nishioka edged a dramatic five-set battle with qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the French Open fourth round for the first time on Saturday.
Nishioka battled back to win a heated affair 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the Paris sunshine.
The 27-year-old will face either Borna Coric or Tomas Martin Etcheverry for a quarter-final place.
“This is an amazing feeling… I’m not sure who I want to play next round but hopefully I play my best tennis again and can look forward to the last eight,” said Nishioka, who made the last 16 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the Australian Open earlier this year.
World number 172 Seyboth Wild, who stunned second seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round, was left to rue three consecutive missed set points in the second-set tie-break.
The Brazilian led 6-3 in that breaker after a controversial set which saw Nishioka broken after being given a point penalty.
He crossed to the wrong side of the net to angrily dispute a line call which went against him.
Nishioka rallied to win the tie-break and then fought back again after dropping the third set, racing to victory in a one-sided decider.
“He played amazing and he had a chance to win the second set as well,” said Nishioka. “If he had, maybe it would have been a different match.
“But at 3-6 down in the tie-break, I never gave up and that’s the reason I made the last 16 today.”
AFP
