Frank the Tank pulls out another win

NEW YORK – On Wednesday, Canadian Frank Dancevic finally put away Luca Vanni of Italy on his eighth match point in his first-round qualifying match at the US Open.

Three of those seven unsuccessful attempts came on double faults.

But Dancevic’s back began barking in the third set. He wasn’t even sure how he’d pull up for his second-round match Thursday against Stéphane Robert of France.

The 32-year-old from Niagara Falls, Ont. decided to go at the drama from a different direction. Because Frank the Tank doesn’t want to repeat himself.

When Robert served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, Dancevic broke him.

At 4-5 on his own serve, he saved two match points.

At 5-5, Robert double-faulted to hand Dancevic the break.

And somehow, Dancevic served it out to win it 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-5. One more win, and he’ll be in the US Open main draw.

“You look really tired,” one new young Dancevic fan told him after it was over.

Out of the mouths of babes …

Here’s how it went down (with apologies that we can’t show much actual tennis).

Oh, and the man they call Frank the Tank was down 1-6 in that second-set tiebreak. Somehow, he managed to get it to 6-6. And then … well, he explains what happened in another epic right-off-the-court post-match interview complete with cute kids and audience interaction.

The final showdown to get into the main draw happens Friday, when Dancevic faces No. 27 seed Radu Albot of Moldova.

Rendez-vous on Court 14, once again. There were several fans who are a perfect 2-for-2 on their Frank the Tank attendance so far during these US Open qualifying rounds. Dancevic is building his fan base up one admirer at a time.

Unlike Vanni (1-0, with the meeting in 2012) and Robert (3-0, with the first meeting all the way back in 2006), Dancevic has never played Albot before.