The comeback was nearly complete. Marcos trailed by two sets to none in his second-round encounter with Karen Khachanov at Wimbledon.
But he would not go down without a fight. Marcos stormed back to force a deciding fifth set, capturing a 6-3 third and 7-6(4) fourth. He saved a match point with Khachanov serving for the victory at 5-3.
In the decider, Marcos had six break chances in the sixth game, but his Russian opponent was up to the task, holding serve and eventually converting the decisive break at 5-all. Marcos would see his Wimbledon dream come to an end after three hours and 15 minutes, but he displayed the fight of a champion on the game's biggest stage.
Khachanov would prevail 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5, while Marcos fired 14 aces and converted three of 17 break chances. It was the 23rd five-setter of his career and sixth at Wimbledon.
Marcos, who had advanced to the second round when seventh seed Dominic Thiem retired due to injury, earned his 21st match win at the All England Club. He was making his 13th appearance at the prestigious grass-court tournament, having advanced as far as the semi-finals in 2006.
