Alexander Zverev wins five-set thiriller in first round of US Open…
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev was just two factors from making the fallacious form of historic, a humbling first-round U.S. Open exit.
Then he turned historical past round and pulled out a 6-4, 3-6. 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 come-from-behind escape against Lorenzo Sonego at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was a 4:52 marathon that ended at 1:55 a.m. on Wednesday morning. And Senego performed strong tennis, throwing the whole lot at the German.
But Zverev had just sufficient.
A relieved Alexander Zverev seems to be as much as the sky after his thrilling 6-4, 3-6. 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 come-from-behind escape against Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the U.S. Open on Sept. 1, 2026 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES through Reuters
“I’m just happy I won. That’s it,” Zverev said afterward. “I believe yeah, unimaginable battle. Quite a bit of ups and downs. Nearly 5 hours. I believe this is the longest first round match I’ve ever performed in my life! Credit to him, he performed superb tennis today. He would have overwhelmed loads of gamers, for positive. I’m completely satisfied to be by way of.
“Actually, I’m happy that I won this kind of battle because this is exactly the match that I needed. I struggled the last two tournaments. I didn’t play well. And sometimes good things happen after you fight through one of these matches. … So I’m hoping that will be the case for me at this tournament.”
Battle is an understatement.
Zverev improved to 7-0 all-time against his Italian foe, and males’s top seeds are now 11-0 in five-set matches in the Open Era. But it very practically went the other means.
A males’s No. 1 seed hadn’t misplaced in the first round of a major since 2003, when Aussie Lleyton Hewitt misplaced to Ivo Karlović at Wimbledon. None had misplaced right here in Flushing Meadows since 1990, when Stefan Edberg fell to Alexander Volkov. And Zverev was two factors away from getting knocked out in the fourth set.
Jannik Sinner, the World No. 1, was sidelined before the tournament began. Novak Djokovic, the Greatest Of All Time, was ailing and eradicated in the opening round. The top-seeded Zverev going out would have actually opened the door for the American males, on a 23-year Grand Slam drought.
And after Zverev gained the first set, Sonego took the next two and was on the brink of taking a 3rd and the upset.
Sonego held at like to win the second set 6-3, taking the last three games.
Alexander Zverev (proper) speaks with Lorenzo Sonego after his thrilling five-set victory in the first round of the U.S. Open. IMAGN IMAGES through Reuters
Then, after Zverev and Sonego each wasted set factors, the Italian pulled out the third. He staved off set point with a smash, drilled an ace to get one of his personal, and cashed in when Zverev double faulted.
Sonego was two factors away from the match in the fourth set, however couldn’t shut out the deal. Zverev’s ace gave him set point and he gained 7-5 to earn a fifth set.
After Sonego’s power had appeared to dip, he bought his proper arm labored on during a medical timeout between units. He’d expended loads of power, while Zverev had slowly, inexorably labored his means again to this point.
Sonego appeared to have misplaced some of the attacking verve that he had ridden in the second and third units, and Zverev began shifting better.
Zverev bought a break to go up 3-2 when the Italian double faulted. And up 4-3, he uncorked a 140 mph serve en path to holding. And on double match point, the German sealed his nice escape.
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