A chorus of 'kick him out' aimed at heckler as Jakub Mensik loses cool enroute to five-set defeat

It was a rather tough night for Jakub Mensik who exited the US Open at the third round stage to the hands of Learner Tien. In the midst of this five-set battle, a certain spectator had really gotten under his skin and him and the crowd made their intentions very clear about what they wanted to do with him.

While Mensik got his dream, he would go on to lose a thriller against fellow young talent Tien 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 with his US Open hopes going up in smoke in a late night thriller on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Czech had reached boiling point as the fourth set was nearing a close. Tien was serving at 4-3 up when Mensik wandered over to the umpire chair, visibly fuming about something. He pointed to the crowd and made his intentions clear that a specific heckler had to be dealt with.

As he spoke with the umpire, a chorus of boos first erupted before the fans sang 'kick him out' around the stadium, showing their allegiances with the player and not the fan in question.

With some security by his side, the 21-year-old pointed out the fan that he had enough with, and action was done. Security guided him out as he lofted his hands in the air like a hero, albeit he would portray the fool as he missed the end of what was a cracking tennis match.

Despite Tien being the home favourite, that period was one that the crowd was on Mensik's side as they urged him on. Unfortunately for Mensik, and fortunately for the fans, it was Tien who marveled at Flushing Meadows with his incredible period of form continuing.

The 20-year-old had never won a match at the US Open before in four separate attempts and had reached a Masters 1000 quarter-final just once. All of these would be trumped, first with a mesmerising semi-final appearance at the Canadian Open where eventual champion and fellow countryman Ben Shelton swept him aside.

Now in New York, he is again setting the world alight and is one of the best players in what is a very depleted top half of the draw. He has a really good chance of making the semi-finals of a major event for the first time, and even challenging for glory.

Following straight set wins over Nuno Borges and Gael Monfils, Tien's valiant five-set comeback against his Czech foe Mensik sets him up with a last-16 tie versus a resurgent Karen Khachanov. The winner will take on Francisco Cerundolo or Alexander Blockx after the pair produced stunning wins against Taylor Fritz and Flavio Cobolli respectively, making this draw wide open.

In the first quarter, number one seed Alexander Zverev is still the overwhelming favourite to reach the final as he targets a second Grand Slam title. Nevertheless, Tien could be the player in pole positions to stop him in his tracks.