Quinn crushes 92 winners in 'surreal' Roland Garros breakthrough

Ethan Quinn will not soon forget the first time he reached the third round at a major.

The 21-year-old American hit an astonishing 92 winners to battle past Kazakhstani Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-5 on Thursday to reach the third round at Roland Garros. The 2023 NCAA singles champion saved two break points at 5-5 in the deciding set before triumphing in four hours and 14 minutes.

"The whole experience has been surreal. I didn't expect myself to get this far," Quinn said. "Honestly, through the seven weeks I've been in Europe on the clay, I wasn't really expecting to play as many matches as I've played. To be now in the third round is pretty amazing.

"My team, we've been talking about it the whole time, is just like each day is just talking about another match. 'Let's get to 17 matches here'. It's just kind of like a small little joke to maybe take the pressure away from it. Just putting every match as if it's just another day, another match. I think that's really helped me get through each and every match that I've played, not putting any pressure on it."

This is just Quinn's second major main draw and first at Roland Garros. The former University of Georgia standout hit 92 winners compared to 43 for Shevchenko and won 45 of his 62 (73%) trips to the net according to Infosys Stats to earn a showdown with Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, who ousted Canadian Gabriel Diallo 7-5, 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3. It will be Quinn and Griekspoor's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

Five American men are into the Roland Garros third round, the most since 1996 (six). Joining Quinn are 15th seed Frances Tiafoe and 23rd seed Sebastian Korda, who will clash in the third round, 12th seed Tommy Paul and 13th seed Ben Shelton.