ATP Tour

Zverev wins second straight five-setter at US Open

Top seed Alexander Zverev navigated through a second-round test Thursday at the US Open, overcoming Frenchman Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3.

Two days after opening his campaign with a marathon four-hour, 53-minute victory — a five-set win over Lorenzo Sonego — Zverev dug deep once again, this time winning after fours and 33 minutes to stay in pursuit of his second major title and first at Flushing Meadows.

On a humid night, Zverev and Halys battled until 2:15 a.m. Friday, fittingly in the city that never sleeps.

“The performance was quite s***, to be honest,” said a candid Zverev in his on-court interview. “But, I won, and that’s the most important thing. I’ve been here for another four and a half hours. 2:15 a.m again."

The 29-year-old, who this year won Roland Garros, will hope to find more pinpoint accuracy on his groundstrokes this fortnight. The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings lacked his typical conviction from the baseline and was prone to forehand errors in crucial moments. But in pressure points, like the third-set tie-break, Zverev relied on his booming serve to dig him out of trouble. Halys let slip a 4-1 lead in the third set, even having a break point for a 5-1 advantage. But Zverev stormed back to secure the lengthy 75-minute set.

Zverev hammered 29 aces across the night and created 20 break chances, converting five. He remained the fresher of the two as the match wore on, eventually sealing his second consecutive five-set win to reach the third round.

"That’s what I go to the gym for," said Zverev, who took off his shirt immediately after clinching match point. "That’s what I go to the track for and train for — to be able to come out on top of these difficult moments when you’re not playing best, when you’re not hitting winners left and right, just getting through these kinds of matches.”

A finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2020, when he fell to Dominic Thiem from two sets up, Zverev is aiming to go one step further this time around. He is competing as the top seed at a major for the first time.

Up next for Zverev is 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo, a familiar foe at the American Slam. Zverev defeated the Chilean in the US Open first round last year to improve to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

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