Tennis News: First seed Alexander Zverev managed to escape a critical situation in the first round of the 2026 US Open season after beating Italian tennis player Lorenzo Sonego.
Showing extraordinary tenacity, the German tennis player beat Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in a fierce match which ended at 01.55 in the morning on Wednesday (2/9) local time.
Appearing as the top seed in a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, the German tennis player was two points away from defeat when holding serve at 4-5, 30/30 in the fourth set, but he managed to turn things around and maintain his hopes of winning the title after a battle that lasted 4 hours 53 minutes.
“I’m just happy to have won. That’s all,” said Zverev with relief. “What a fight. Lots of ups and downs. Almost 5-5 hours for the first round match. I think this was the longest first round match I’ve ever had in my life. So, credit goes to him, he played really great. He could definitely beat a lot of other players, but I’m happy to be able to get through to the next round.”
The 2026 French Open champion started the evening’s match with a perfect head to head record, namely 6-0 against Sonego. However, this historical record does not mean much when the world number 89 tennis player performed brilliantly with an aggressive strategy of going to the net, which even put the German tennis player on the verge of defeat.
The tennis player, who reached the first Grand Slam final of his career at the 2020 US Open season, started the match that night with a below standard performance, mainly due to an uncharacteristic forehand error he made. However, as the match progressed, he moved more freely and improved the quality of his ball returns. He created 22 break point opportunities and managed to convert five of them.
“This is really the kind of match I need. I struggled in the previous two tournaments,” said Zverev, referring to his 2-2 record in the Masters 1000 tournament held in Montreal and Cincinnati.
“Sometimes, positive things happen after we get through a tough match like this. I hope the same thing will happen to me in this tournament.”
Advancing to the second round of the US Open, Zverev will next face French tennis player, Quentin Halys. The world No. 2 is 2-0 up in their head to heads, with both meetings coming this season (at Miami and Roland Garros).
In the first round, Halys knocked out Argentine tennis player Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1.
In other action, the 13th seed, Lorenzo Musetti, eliminated the British tennis player, Arthur Fery with 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 and booked the second round match of the US Open against the Australian national, Dane Sweeny who was ahead with 7-6, 6-4, 3-0 when his opponent from France, Corentin Moutet withdrew.
Article Tags: us open, alexander zverev, lorenzo sonego, lorenzo musetti
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