Chris O'Connell has advanced to the second round of the ATP Tour's Atlanta Open with a memorable tweener the highlight of his hard-fought win over Denis Kudla.
World No.132 O'Connell came back from going a set down against Kudla to record a 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory.
The moment of the match came when qualifier O'Connell chased down a lob and perfectly-struck tweener past his American opponent, who was at the net.
The win set the Sydneysider up for a showdown with Italian second seed Jannik Sinner - a day after Jordan Thompson won his opening-round match.
O'Connell's effort in the fourth game of the third set is the shot of the tournament so far but that could be tested when his fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios takes to the court under lights to face South African veteran Kevin Anderson in the final match of day.
In other results at the ATP 250 hardcourt event, five-time champion John Isner sent down 36 aces to overcome J.J. Wolf 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 while fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz beat Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 6-3 6-4.
French seventh seed Benoit Paire and Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland also progressed to the second round.
