Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig on Tuesday progressed to the women’s singles second round of the US Open tournament, the last Grand Slam of the year, after defeating Canadian Rebecca Marino 7-6 (8 /6) 7-6 (7/1) at the Flushing Meadows arenas in New York, write Agerpres.

Tig, 29, world number 700, benefitting from protected ranking, managed a decisive victory after two hours and 15 minutes. In the first set it went toe to toe until the tiebreak, where Tig led 2-0 and 3-1, but then Marino, 32, world number 104, won four points in a row (5-3). Tig bounced back to win 8-6. In the second set, Tig started 2-0, but then lost four sets in a row (2-4). The Romanian mustered her resources and bounced back again to a 5-5 tie, and then dominated the tiebreak awarded 7-1.

Tig scored two aces and committed six double faults, while Marino totalled eight aces and made four double faults. The US player had more winning balls, 29-20, but also made more unforced errors, 41-32.

For her performance so far in the tournament, Tig won USD 123,000 and 70 WTA singles points, and in the second round she will face American Jessica Pegula, 29, world number three. Two other Romanians are playing in the first round: Ana Bogdan, who meets American Sofia Kenin, and qualifier Gabriela Ruse, who plays Czech Karolina Pliskova.