NEW YORK, ⁠Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ben Shelton survived a tough test from Poland's ⁠HubertHurkacz 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the ‌U.S. Open third round, relying on the deafening cheers of the partisan Americancrowd to power him through.

The eighth seed, bidding to end a 23-year U.S. men's major title drought, ​arrived in New York on the back ⁠of his Montreal victory and ⁠enjoyed strong backing in Arthur Ashe Stadium during the finely poised encounter.

"Super happy ⁠with ‌the way the match went. I thought it was a battle to the end," said Shelton, who strained to ⁠hear an on-court reporter after the match. "If I was ​commentating I would ‌talk about how loud this crowd was from start to finish."

It ⁠looked as ​though it would be an easy day for Shelton after Hurkacz surrendered his serve with a pair of double faults in the sixth game.

But the ⁠Pole improved his level with 15 winners ​in the second set, where his forehand just kissed the baseline for the critical break on set point.

The pair battled toe-to-toe in a tense ⁠third set before Hurkacz gave it away in the tiebreak, letting Shelton get off to a costly 3-0 headstart.

The contest appeared to be heading towards a deciding set when Shelton was forced to defend ​two break points in the ninth game of ⁠the fourth set.

But the 2023 semi-finalist found another gear, hammeringHurkacz with his ​mighty forehand in the 12th game before ‌flexing his arms in wide-eyed celebration ​as his opponent sent his forehand out on match point.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)