Wilander’s Victory Over Pernfors Perfect for City That Never Sleeps

In what is believed to be the latest-ending men’s singles match in the U.S. Open’s 112 years, it was hard to tell the winner from the loser at 2:25 a.m. Saturday.

This is what the combatants had to say for themselves:

“I feel great,” said Mikael Pernfors, who lost.

“I feel like . . . ,” said Mats Wilander, who won.

Actually, Wilander should have been feeling a whole lot better, especially after he pulled out a 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 second-round victory over Pernfors in 3 hours 59 minutes.

Maybe Wilander was simply surprised he had won because he lost his serve more times than Pernfors, hit more double faults, won fewer points, hit fewer winners and had more unforced errors.

But, hey, who’s counting? Certainly not Wilander, who faces 15th-seeded Cedric Pioline in the third round.

Wilander wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence when asked if he would be able to recover in time to play Pioline. “I don’t know that,” he said.

But there was one fact of which Wilander was certain. He knew he was in the third round because he played the tiebreakers better than Pernfors.

Actually, it’s simple, said Wilander, who summed up his philosophy about tiebreakers this way: “I think when it goes to the tiebreaker, it is sometime you win them, sometimes you lose them.”

That about covers it. And nobody was arguing, not at 2:25 a.m.