When US Open players are one point away from elimination, the tension amplifier shoots to 11.
Already, Elise Mertens of Belgium has hit "11" on the "Spinal Tap" dial five times in the first three days of the women’s singles draw.
She saved three match points in Round 1 against Swedish qualifier Mirjam Bjorklund. She saved two more on Wednesday in a second-set tiebreak against American Danielle Collins.
How many more can the 27-year-old Belgian endure?
A lot, apparently. In 2021, in the first round alone, Mertens saved six match points to defeat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson in three sets.
In this year's tournament, Mertens' next opponent is No. 6 seed, Coco Gauff. Mertens has never beaten Gauff and, already, Mertens has spent six hours on the singles court.
But consider this: eight former US Open champions saved match points during the tournament. Only one, however, was female. In 1986, Martina Navratilova escaped three during her sold-out semifinal against a 17-year-old West German, Steffi Graf, before winning the tournament.
And the most match points ever saved by any US Open champion is five. In the 1975 men’s semifinals, under the lights at the West Side Tennis Club (on clay courts), Manuel Orantes beat Guillermo Vilas after trailing two sets, and being down 0-5 in the fourth in what was called "one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history." The next day, Orantes then beat the 1974 champ and No. 1 seed Jimmy Connors in straight sets to claim the title.
Along with Navratilova and Orantes, here are some other US Open champions who nearly had to fly home early the year they won the title:
- Boris Becker saved two match points against Derrick Rostagno in the second round before winning the title in 1989.
- Pete Sampras saved one match point in his 1996 quarterfinal against Alex Corretja before hoisting the champion’s trophy.
- In 2003, Andy Roddick was down one match point in his semifinal against David Nalbandian. He, too, won the final.
- Novak Djokovic, en route to his 2011 US Open victory, fought two match points in his fourth consecutive US Open semifinal against Roger Federer to prevail in five sets before taking the crown.
- In 2016, the eventual champion Stan Wawrinka escaped one match point in the second round against Daniel Evans.
- 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz was one point from elimination in his quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner.
Since Mertens has already survived five match points in 2023, if she can upset Gauff on Friday and win her next four matches to claim her first major title, Mertens could also make US Open history as tying or topping Orantes’ record.
