Ranked 80th in the world when he entered the US Open, 34-year old Dominican tennis player Victor Estrella battled 23-year old Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in a third round loss on Saturday, 30 August 2014. This was the first time a Dominican had played in the US Open, and he also made history by being the oldest player ever to debut in the US Open. Winning the first two rounds represented around US$100,000 in earnings for Estrella, a career record.
Raonic, seeded 6th by the ATP, had to sweat over two hours and 45 minutes of play. He attributed his win to the tie-breakers. He conceded to Estrella:
“It was difficult. He’s playing well. He’s playing with a lot of aspiration. Victor played really well, this is a very special week for him.”
President Danilo Medina sent Estrella a message via Twitter, congratulating him for making Dominicans proud.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/tennis/u-s-open-milos-raonic-rolls-into-4th-round-1.2751527
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/08/30/canadas-milos-raonic-wins-three-straight-tiebreakers-to-reach-fourth-round-of-u-s-open/?__federated=1