Flummoxed and frustrated by wily veteran Paolo Lorenzi for two sets, second seed Andy Murray changed tactics and beat the 34-year-old Italian at his own game to advance to the US Open fourth round.
Murray was moping and muttering to himself as he pressed for winners against the steady Italian and piled up unforced errors before deciding to patiently play long rallies that enabled him to secure a 7-6 5-7 6-2 6-3 win.
World number two Murray committed 47 errors in the first two sets, including 31 off his forehand, and converted only 4-of-12 break points before finding his form in the third set.
The 40th-ranked Lorenzi put up a gritty fight despite coming off a gruelling five-set, five-hour win over French 30th seed Gilles Simon in his second-round tilt.
The Scotsman’s harder than expected three-hour 17-minute victory kept his golden summer moving forward after triumphs at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Lorenzi is also enjoying a stellar season, logging his first victory ever on the ATP Tour, becoming the oldest first-time champion by winning at Kitzbuehel, and adding two semi-finals and a quarter-final to his credit.
“I stopped rushing in the rallies,” 2012 US Open winner Murray said in an on-court interview.
“I was making quite a few unforced errors.
“He’s an extremely solid player and doesn’t give you many cheap points. I was trying to get cheap points, I was going for too much.”
Murray advanced to a fourth-round clash with Grigor Dimitrov, of Bulgaria, a 6-4 6-1 3-6 6-2 winner over Joao Sousa, of Portugal.
Elsewhere, third seed Stan Wawrinka saved a match point before squeezing past unheralded Briton Dan Evans in five sets to reach the fourth round.
The Swiss faced match point at 5-6 in the fourth-set tiebreak but won it 10-8 and then raced through the final set to clinch a 4-6 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-2 victory.
“It was an unbelievable fight,” Wawrinka said.
“I’m for sure lucky to get through that match, saving match point.”
Evans described his loss as a “heartbreaker” after coming so close to reaching the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time.
Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open winner and 2015 French Open champion, will next play Ilya Marchenko, of Ukraine.
Round four: Monfils bt Baghdatis 6-3 6-2 6-3; Tsonga bt Sock 6-3 6-3 6-7 6-2.