Many players have had those crazy matches in which they save match point(s) before using that momentum to come back and win. But few players have been as close to elimination as world No. 16 Lucas Pouille was in Stuttgart on Wednesday.

The Frenchman was over two hours into his opening round match against Jan-Lennard Struff when he found his back against the wall down 7-8 in the third-set tiebreaker, with the Struff serving.

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It would have been hard to criticize Pouille if he did not scrape up Struff’s drop volley or if he did not react quickly enough as the two pounded volleys back and forth at the net. Yet the 23-year-old hung on, and advanced to the quarterfinals two points later, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8).

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Pouille will look to defend his career-best result at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon after reaching the quarterfinals at the All England Club last year.

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