NEW YORK(AP) After 4 hours, five sets and a match he won't soon forget, Taylor Dent grabbed the umpire's microphone and thanked the raucous U.S. Open crowd.
Really, though, they should have been thanking him.
Dent kept his inspiring comeback story on track with a crowd-pleasing victory over Spain's Ivan Navarro. The score: 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (1), 7-5, 7-6 (9).
The American won on his fourth match point, with a backhand return winner past Navarro that brought the fans at the Grandstand court to their feet. Really, they had been on their feet through most of this match, a tussle between a pair of serve-and-volleyers who played a lot of short points and high-risk, high-reward tennis.