Another day, another marathon match from Alexander Zverev with the world No 2’s US Open clash against Quentin Halys finishing in the early hours of Friday morning in New York.
Two matches into the 2026 tournament and Zverev has already spent more than nine hours on court as he needed four hours and 53 minutes to defeat Lorenzo Sonego in five sets in the first round on Tuesday.
And two days later, he again went the distance against world No 52 Halys as he beat the Frenchman 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 in four hours and 33 minutes with the match ending at 02:15 at Flushing Meadows.
“The performance was quite s***, to be honest, but I won, and that’s the most important thing,” the top seed said. “I’ve been here for another four and a half hours, 02:15am again, but that is what I go to the gym for, that’s what I go to the track for, that’s what I train for, to be able to come out on top in these difficult moments.
“You know, when you’re not playing your best, when you’re not hitting winners left and right, just getting through these kind of matches.
“To be honest, I hope at some point I will start to play better, but for now I am happy to be in the third round.”
Good News About The Draw
Zverev faces 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo in the third round and if he gets through that, the draw will open up as 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti lost in the second round against wildcard Dane Sweeny.
In fact, the German won’t face another top-20 player until at least the last eight as third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, sixth seed Alex de Minaur and 12th seed Rafael Jodar have all lost early.
US Open News
He is likely to face 14th-seeded Learner Tien or 17th seed Jakub Mensik in the quarter-final while he could meet either fifth seed Flavio Cobolli or ninth seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-final.
Having spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court in just two matches, he has already made history at the US Open as he has become the first top seed in the Open Era to play two five-setters in the opening two rounds of a Grand Slam.
Compare that to Alcaraz’s run to the semi-final last year as he spent just over nine hours and 33 minutes on court during his first five matches.
The draw might get kinder from here on in, but it remains to be seen if Zverev will still have energy left from his marathon start to the US Open.
Meanwhile, the bottom half of the draw still features second seed Carlos Alcaraz, seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, eighth seed Ben Shelton and 11th seed Frances Tiafoe.
