Alexander Zverev says he hopes to play better tennis at the US Open after being taken to five sets in his two opening matches.

After coming through a roller-coaster encounter against Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, Zverev was also pushed to his limits in his latest clash with France’s Quentin Halys. The top seed spent almost four-and-a-half hours on the court before securing a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 win over Halys, who is currently ranked 52nd in the world.

It was far from a vintage performance from Zverev, who hit 49 unforced errors and won less than 50% of points behind his second serve. However, he did hit 60 winners, six more than his rival.

“The performance was quite shit to be honest, but I won, that’s the most important thing,” Zverev said on court.

“Another four-and-a-half hours, 2:15 am, that’s what I go to the gym for,” he added.

It is the 19th time Zverev has won a five-set match during the first week of a Grand Slam since he made his major debut at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. This is more than any other player during this period.

On the other hand, he has picked up an unwanted Open Era record at the US Open by becoming the first top seed to reach the third round after dropping four sets.

“I feel fine. I am proud, I think, to be physically quite strong,” he said.

“I just hope at some point I’ll start playing better tennis.

“I’m winning ugly right now. It’s a skill to win ugly and when you’re not playing great tennis. I think I’ve mastered that right now. I hope I’ll start playing better tennis.”

Since reaching the final at Wimbledon, Zverev has struggled to find his rhythm on the Tour. He lost his opening match at the Canadian masters before losing in the third round in Cincinnati. As for the US Open, he says the tournament has also posed a challenge for him. Even though he was a former runner-up in 2021 and reached the quarter-finals or better on three other occasions.

“New York has always been difficult for me. Just the conditions, it’s really difficult for me to play good tennis here, but I hope I’ll find something,” he said.

Zverev will play 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo in the next round.