Masotti Outlasts Rodriguez in 95-minute Detroit Duel

World No.24 Baptiste Masotti prevailed in a gruelling 95-minute encounter against No.5 seed Miguel Rodriguez on a dramatic day of second round action at the DR21 Motor City Open, the PSA Squash Tour Silver event in Detroit.

The unseeded Frenchman, who played his 300th PSA Tour match earlier this week, came through a thrilling fifth game to record a 12-14, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory over former British Open champion Rodriguez.

A 30-minute opening game set the stall for the match to follow, with both players showing their incredible retrieval skills as they traded games up to a decider on the traditional court at the Birmingham Athletic Club.

A burst ball at 9-9 in the fifth game added yet more drama to the occasion, but it was Masotti who eventually advanced to the quarter-finals of the Silver-level event, setting up a tie with No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng.

"I'm so happy," Masotti said after the match. "It was really tough today. Miguel is 39 years old, and he is running so much, and he made it so tough. I needed to be so accurate and confident in my physical abilities.

"A lot of things were going through my mind in the fifth game. I knew I had been on the court for 95 minutes and I just didn't want to lose.

"I lost a lot of hope in my abilities to win these kinds of matches recently. I am now feeling much more confident, though, in my abilities and my game. This win means a lot to me."

Elsewhere, there were a host of action-packed matches that left the crowd entertained, with World No.4 Paul Coll notably holding off rising England star Jonah Bryant in a gripping four-game duel and No.7 seed Leonel Cardenas coming from 2/1 down to defeat Nathan Lake.

Kiwi Coll, now the highest remaining seed after the withdrawal of four-time champion Diego Elias before play through injury, was forced to battle all the way throughout his 86-minute encounter with the 19-year-old Englishman, notably coming through a tense third-game tie-break after receiving a pair of blood injury breaks due to cuts on his hand.