Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek proved they are only human at the US Open on Saturday, showing that even the world's best players sometimes have to work things out on the fly when pure talent is not enough.
Wimbledon champion Swiatek embodied the day's theme of triumph through adversity, clawing her way back from 5-1 down in the opening set against Anna Kalinskaya before grinding out a 7-6(2) 6-4 victory.
"I'm happy that I came back and kept ... figuring out and problem-solving," Swiatek said. "For sure, it wasn't an easy match."
The Pole was far from her sharpest in a scrappy, error-strewn contest. Nine breaks and 67 unforced errors by both players combined painted the picture of a match won through sheer bloody-mindedness, rather than sublime shot-making.
Yet Swiatek steadied herself at the key moments, saving four set points in the first set and breaking late in the second to notch her 20th major match win of the season and draw level with defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
"It's not easy sometimes to find the solutions and to find the exact thing that will help you," she added.
"You need to have your mind open enough to think about what you can do. Today was a pretty good day, I'd say, in terms of that, because, you know, at 5-1 or something, it's easy to panic, and I didn't."
Her reward is a last-16 meeting with 13th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
World number one Sinner showed similar resolve, surrendering the opening set to 27th seed Denis Shapovalov before rallying to prevail 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-3.
The victory extended the 24-year-old Italian's unbeaten run at hardcourt Grand Slams to 24 matches, a streak built not just on talent but on his ability to problem-solve when his best tennis abandons him.
"I'm not a machine, you know. I also struggle sometimes," said Sinner, who was beaten by the Canadian in the opening round of the 2021 Australian Open in their only previous meeting.
"Every match is so difficult. Every challenge is so difficult.
"There are players who have more qualities or potential, and he's one of them. I just tried to stay there mentally."
'DEJA VU'
Not all the top seeds found the same winning formula.
World number three Alexander Zverev, still chasing his first Grand Slam title, saw his tournament end in frustration as Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied from a set down to stun the German 4-6 7-6(7) 6-4 6-4.
While Sinner and Swiatek found ways to steady themselves, Zverev grew increasingly rattled as the match slipped away, slamming his racket in frustration as Auger-Aliassime's fearless shot-making turned the tide.
Tommy Paul was another casualty as the American 14th seed crashed out after a 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 defeat by Alexander Bublik in the final match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Bublik, the 23rd seed, will next face Sinner.
Earlier, Brazilian 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, last year's quarter-finalist, hammered former world number three Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-2 on Louis Armstrong Stadium to set up a clash with Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova.
The extended Labor Day weekend's most intriguing battle of wills is yet to come, as Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff set up a fourth-round showdown that will dominate the headlines on Monday.
Four-time major champion Osaka overcame a mid-match wobble to overpower 15th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-0 4-6 6-3, while last year's champion Gauff dismissed Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-1 in her most convincing performance of the week.
Organizers could not have scripted it better for US fans: a showdown between two charismatic former champions six years after their memorable first meeting at Flushing Meadows.
In 2019, defending champion Osaka routed a tearful 15-year-old Gauff 6-3 6-0, then comforted her opponent and urged her to address fans in the stadium, a display of sportsmanship that delighted the crowd.
"It would be a cool kind of deja vu type of situation, but hopefully it will be a different result," Gauff said.
Even the doubles courts reflected the theme of experience and determination, with 45-year-old Venus Williams and Canada's Leylah Fernandez earning a 7-6(1) 6-1 win over Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi in their first tournament together.
The tournament is fast becoming a battle of attrition.
There have been nine retirements in the singles before the end of the third round, including three on Saturday alone when Italy's Flavio Cobolli, Daniel Altmaier and Poland's Kamil Majchrzak all withdrew.
