Day 5 produced a few more casualties in the men’s draw, although Alexander Zverev avoided becoming one, coming through another endurance event.
The top seed needed another five sets and more than four and a half hours to get past Quentin Halys, meaning he has now spent over nine hours on court through two rounds. He is still alive, but not the sort of start you want if you’re planning on being there next weekend.
Elsewhere, Dane Sweeny produced the biggest upset of the day by knocking out Lorenzo Musetti, while Botic van de Zandschulp delivered again in New York with a straight-sets win over Alex de Minaur.
Felix Auger-Aliassime also went out after struggling badly with dizziness and vision problems against Karen Khachanov, while Taylor Fritz had the complete opposite experience, dropping just two games in a demolition of Mattia Bellucci.
Gael Monfils’ final Grand Slam appearance also came to an end, with Learner Tien proving far too steady for the 40-year-old on Louis Armstrong.
Here’s a look at all the Day 5 results and the matches that stood out.
Day Five US Open 2026 Round of 64 Results
Key Match Recap
Alexander Zverev def. Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3
Alexander Zverev is taking the scenic route at this year’s US Open, opting to play five hours every other night.
Two days after needing four hours and 53 minutes to beat Lorenzo Sonego, the top seed was dragged into another five-setter by Quentin Halys, eventually getting through after another four hours and 33 minutes.
Again, Zverev wasn’t particularly convincing. His normally reliable backhand wasn’t firing, the serve went through patches where it wasn’t doing enough damage, and Halys did a good job of keeping the match on his racquet whenever he could.
Zverev edged the crucial third-set tiebreak but couldn’t finish things in four, with Halys playing a strong fourth-set breaker to force a decider.
The German finally found the break he needed in the fifth and closed it out at 2:15 a.m. So that’s nine hours and 26 minutes on court through two rounds, which isn’t exactly ideal preparation for trying to win seven matches.
Alejandro Tabilo is next, which I don’t think will be straightforward either.
Dane Sweeny def. Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
One of the bigger surprises of the day came from Dane Sweeny, who knocked out Lorenzo Musetti in four sets.
Musetti started normally enough and took the opener 6-3, but the match completely changed from there.
The Italian began struggling physically in the second and had obvious movement issues by the start of the third, eventually leaving the court for a medical timeout. I haven’t heard exactly what it was, with many saying heat stroke.
Sweeny deserves credit, though. It’s not always easy to play someone who’s struggling physically, but he kept making Musetti work, defended extremely well, and didn’t give him any cheap route back into the match.
The Australian is ranked outside the top 100 and had never even played US Open qualifying before this year, yet he’s now into the third round of a Slam for the first time.
Botic van de Zandschulp def. Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-5, 6-2
Botic van de Zandschulp produced another one of his excellent US Open performances to knock out sixth seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
Botic reached the quarter-finals here as a qualifier in 2021 and famously knocked out Alcaraz two years ago, so he can certainly fire in New York.
Despite that, I thought Alex de Boulter would just outrun him as he’d beaten Botic in all four of their previous meetings, but the Dutchman served extremely well, dropped serve just once and was able to dictate far more rallies than you’d expect against someone as difficult to hit through as De Minaur.
After pinching a tight second set 7-5, he ran away with the third.
A very poor result for De Minaur, who is in a bit of a slump of form post-marriage.
Karen Khachanov def. Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Karen Khachanov took out one of the highest remaining seeds, although this became less about tennis once Felix Auger-Aliassime began feeling unwell.
Felix won a tight opening set, but around midway through the second, his level dropped dramatically.
Afterwards, he said he’d become dizzy, was seeing spots and couldn’t recover between points. He also made 99 errors across the match, which makes it clear how far from normal he was.
Khachanov still had to deal with the situation professionally, and he did. Once he levelled the match, he kept Felix moving, attacked the second serve and won the final two sets 6-2, 6-2.
It’s Khachanov’s first top-10 win of the season and a useful result after a pretty poor run, and Felix is no real loss to the tournament, as his tennis is the blandest thing on the menu.
Taylor Fritz def. Mattia Bellucci 6-0, 6-1, 6-1
The performance of the day came from Taylor Fritz, who absolutely demolished Mattia Bellucci in 98 minutes.
Fritz is my American pick to win the tournament, and he was aggressive without becoming reckless, dominated behind his serve and converted eight break points while saving all three he faced.
Dropping two games in a best-of-five match is as comprehensive as it gets, and Fritz has now spent very little time on court through his opening two rounds.
Francisco Cerundolo is next, which earlier this year might have been a test, but the Argie is not playing well and I see Fritz dominating.
Learner Tien def. Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
Gael Monfils’ final Grand Slam match ended with a straight-sets defeat to Learner Tien, but he got the farewell he deserved on Louis Armstrong.
As I predicted, Tien was simply too steady. Monfils still produced flashes of the ridiculous shotmaking he is capable of, but sustaining that level against someone 20 years younger was always going to be difficult.
Gael had the crowd on his side, but the American repeatedly absorbed Monfils’ attacks, kept his error count low and found a break in each set.
I still see La Monf as Clownfils, as he spent most of his prime clowning around on court, and I remember watching him around 2009-2012 losing matches that were easily winnable, so yeah, fun in patches due to his athleticism, and he definitely came good when he won those back-to-back Rotterdam titles, but nah.
Highlights
US Open 2026 Day 6 Round of 32 Matches
- Daniil Medvedev [7] v Arthur Rinderknech [26] — Grandstand, 11:00 AM
- Valentin Vacherot [22] v Frances Tiafoe [11] — Louis Armstrong Stadium, 7:00 PM
- Alex Michelsen v Daniel Merida — Stadium 17, not before 4:30 PM
- Tomas Martin Etcheverry [27] v Mariano Navone — Court 11, not before 4:00 PM
- Ben Shelton [8] v Denis Shapovalov — Arthur Ashe Stadium, 7:00 PM
- Jiri Lehecka [18] v Stefanos Tsitsipas — Grandstand, not before 5:00 PM
- Alexander Bublik [15] v Tommy Paul [20] — Louis Armstrong Stadium, 11:00 AM
- Yibing Wu v Carlos Alcaraz [2] — Arthur Ashe Stadium, not before 1:00 PM
