Cameron Norrie rallied past Tomas Machac in a three-set epic at the Madrid Open on Tuesday, describing the 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5) victory as "one of the favourite matches" of his career.
The British No. 1 dominated the opening set, breaking early and wrapping it up in 36 minutes. However, Machac fought back in the second, saving a match point in the tie-break to level the match. The Czech then broke early in the third and served for the match, but Norrie broke back and held his nerve in the final tie-break to seal the win.
"I was feeling the ball really well in the first set but it was tough to hang with him in the second," Norrie told Sky Sports. "I had to dig deep in the third set when I was down a break. The atmosphere was so good and it tested me in so many ways."
Norrie, who reached the Barcelona Open quarter-finals last week, has never advanced past the third round in Madrid. He will next face either Tommy Paul or Thiago Agustin Tirante.
In other action, Katie Boulter fell to world No. 5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-4, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner rallied to beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4 for his 18th straight win. Sinner will face Danish qualifier Elmer Moller in the third round.
Upsets included Andrey Rublev's 6-3, 6-4 loss to No. 66 Vit Kopriva and Ben Shelton's 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5) defeat to Dino Prizmic. Elena Rybakina overcame a slow start to beat Elena Gabriela Ruse 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, while Coco Guff crushed Leolia Jeanjean 6-3, 6-0.