Alexander Zverev Survives Epic First-Round Battle at US Open
Alexander Zverev walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium just before 2 a.m., not so much relieved as exhausted, having stared down both Lorenzo Sonego and the kind of early-round disaster that can wreck a favourite’s fortnight.
The top seed needed every ounce of his new status as a Grand Slam champion to survive, edging past the Italian 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 in a first‑round epic that lasted almost five hours and threatened, more than once, to throw the US Open draw wide open.
A champion under siege
This is Zverev’s first trip to New York as a major winner after his French Open breakthrough in June. With world No. 1 Jannik Sinner absent and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz only just back from injury, many had quietly circled his name as the man to beat.
For long stretches of the night, that tag looked like a burden.
Zverev started like a top seed should. He controlled the baseline, pressed on return, and carved out seven break points in the opening set. He converted only one, but it was enough for 6-4 and an early foothold.
Sonego, ranked 89 but never intimidated by a big stage, refused to play the role of sparring partner. He tightened his serve, stepped inside the court, and began to swing freely. An early break in the second set flipped the mood. Zverev’s first serve wobbled, the Italian’s confidence grew, and Sonego served out the set to love, sealing it with a clean ace that cut through the New York night.
The pressure had turned.
Sonego seizes control
The third set became a tug of war. Momentum shifted with almost every game. Zverev tried to lean on his weight of shot, Sonego answered with fearless hitting and timely serving. Neither man blinked until the tiebreak.
That was where the top seed cracked.
At 7-7 in the breaker, Zverev double-faulted, gifting Sonego the mini-break and a look at the set. The Italian didn’t hesitate. One point later he had a two-sets-to-one lead, and Ashe sensed the upset brewing.
Zverev, suddenly trailing and searching, had to dig into something deeper than clean technique.
On the brink, then a surge
The fourth set brought more chaos. They traded breaks, nerves creeping into both rackets. Zverev’s forehand misfired, Sonego’s legs began to feel the miles. The German then found himself just two points from defeat, staring at a first-round exit that would have echoed around the sport.
He refused to go.
A gritty hold kept him alive. The next game, he pounced. Zverev broke serve, wrestled the set 7-5, and roared to his chair as if he’d just won the tournament, not merely earned the right to play one more set.
From there, the match turned on energy reserves as much as shot selection. Sonego, who had matched Zverev blow for blow for nearly four hours, finally began to fade. The rallies that had once been even started to tilt the German’s way. His serve steadied, his footwork sharpened, and the scoreboard followed.
Zverev secured the crucial break in the decider, guarded it with the focus of a man who knew what was at stake, and closed out the match 6-4. No drama on the final point, just a professional finish to an utterly unprofessional scare.
History avoided, warning delivered
Had he lost, Zverev would have become the first top seed to fall in the opening round of a Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003. That statistic hovered over the night as the match deepened and the clock rolled past midnight.
He dodged it. Barely.
“I’m just happy I won, that’s it,” Zverev said afterwards, summing up the night with the bluntness of a man who had no energy left for spin. He called it “an incredible battle, lots of ups and downs, nearly five hours,” and noted it was his longest first-round match at a major. On this evidence, it felt every minute of it.
“He would have beaten a lot of players,” Zverev added of Sonego, “but I’m happy to be through.”
The top seed advances, the draw stays intact, and the tournament keeps its presumed leading man. But on an opening night that turned into a survival test, Zverev’s title chase already carries a scar.
