"It was sort of who could last the longest in the end,” conceded Daniel Evans after rallying from 0-4 down in the match-winning set to edge out Karen Khachanov on Tuesday bya dazzling score of 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 that failed to beat the deadline of most print media editions.

"It was a long, long battle. I thought I played pretty well for the majority of the match. Obviously I was struggling physically, but so was he,” Evans explained. The previous longest US Open match was Stefan Edberg's victory over Michael Chang in the 1992 semi-finals, which lasted five hours and 26 minutes with Edberg winning 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-4.

In this case, each set lasted more than an hour, the third stretching to 72 minutes as Evans upset the 23rd-seeded Khachanov even after the Russian seemed to grab a commanding lead in the money set. The ample cushion, however, did not materialise in a win, as he then mishandled four break points on Evans's serve while the Britton rallied in the shadow of the massive Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"(I) just tried to scrape little by little," Evans said. "Each point I was obviously really struggling with my legs. On serve I was fine on return, so that gave me a bit of hope. "When you're a kid, you're just told to fight until the end. I mean, that's sort of rule one. I've done that pretty consistently for my career. It sort of paid off a bit today."

It's not Evans's first epic comeback of 2024. He and Andy Murray saved seven match points in two straight rounds before they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the men's doubles at the Paris Olympics.

Simply incredible. pic.twitter.com/V7AsPv0NeJ

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 27, 2024

Evans, who won the 2023 ATP tournament in Washington, skipped his title defence to compete in Paris, the lost ranking points causing his ranking to plummet.

"I'm immensely proud that I came through the match. My ranking has dropped. I thought I could (win), but it's easier said than done. You can always think it, but you've got to go out there and do it. I don't think I've played five hours in a day ever in two sessions, never mind in one," he said with a laugh. "I was actually thinking that on the court. I've never practiced two hours. It's normally an hour and a half," said Evans, who hasn't made it past the second round of a tournament this year.

After making US Open history though, the underdog winner was hoping for some much-needed rest before facing  Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the second round. "I'll obviously be in a bit of discomfort for the next few hours, 12 hours, 48 hours, whatever. I pride myself on being pretty fit, so I should hopefully be OK," he said.