ATP Tour

Zverev back on track, Tien survives Mensik in late-night US Open thriller

It took Alexander Zverev three matches, but the top seed has finally earned his first straight-sets win at the US Open this year.

After spending a combined nine hours and 26 minutes on court, grinding through five-set wins in his first two matches, the German overcame a minor scare in the second set to oust Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-2 and advance to the fourth round.

"My coach was actually quite smart. He explained to me that a best-of-five-sets match doesn't mean you have to play five sets," the German joked following his win. "I didn't know that until today, but I am definitely happy with the improvements. Definitely happy that my level is going in the right direction. I am happy to be in the second week."

The top seed appeared firmly in control early in the second set, leading 4-2, but Tabilo staged a comeback and earned two set points on Zverev's serve at 5-4. The German saved both before breaking Tabilo's serve to take a 6-5 lead, only for the Chilean to break back and force a tie-break. The 29-year-old remained patient, however, and clinched the set with a composed display in the tie-break.

Zverev carried that momentum into the third set, serving with greater consistency while controlling the baseline rallies to prevent Tabilo from regaining his second-set rhythm. The World No. 2 saved six of eight break points he faced overall, ultimately sealing the victory in two hours and 26 minutes to reach the fourth round in New York for the sixth time.

After improving to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tabilo, Zverev has set a fourth-round clash with 25th seed Luciano Darderi, who dispatched Australian wild card Dane Sweeny 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round at the hard-court major for the first time in his career. Zverev and Darderi most recently met in Rome in May, when the Italian saved four match points to upset the German in the fourth round.

Elsewhere, 14th seed Learner Tien advanced with a hard-fought 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 victory against Jakub Mensik. Their three-hour, 24-minute third-round battle inside Louis Armstrong Stadium spilled into the early hours of Sunday morning, with Tien sealing victory close to 1:30 a.m. in New York.

"I want to thank everyone for staying late," Tien said following his win. "If the stadium was empty, I'm not sure if I would have won the match... It is incredible. There's really no place like here. I am super pumped that everyone came out and supported me tonight."

With the win, the 20-year-old became the youngest American to reach the US Open fourth round, matching Andy Roddick's record, who was also 20 years old when he reached that stage in New York in 2002.

The next test for Tien will be a meeting with former World No. 8 Karen Khachanov. Earlier on Saturday, the 30-year-old eased past Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the US Open fourth round for the first time since 2022, when he made it to the last four before falling to Casper Ruud.