Alexander Zverev avoided an embarrassing first round exit at the US Open, with the world number one just managing to stray away from breaking an unwanted 23-year record.
The German took the win over five sets to eventually see off Lorenzo Sonego (6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4) and the relief was there for all to see at the end of a bruising contest. Zverev was in trouble at more than one juncture and was more than happy to avoid becoming the first number one men’s seed to lose in the first round of a grand slam tournament since 2003.
For now, that unwanted hallmark still belongs to Lleyton Hewitt, who fell at the first hurdle at Wimbledon 23 years ago against Ivo Karlovic whilst defending the title at SW19.
Zverev’s task took him just shy of five hours as it swung one way then another. Eventually though, his quality shone through as the French Open champion prospered.
“Nearly five hours for a first round, I think this is the longest first-round match I’ve ever played in my life,” Zverev, who now faces number 52 seed Quentin Halys in the next round, said afterwards. “So, credit to him. He played amazing tennis today, would have beaten a lot of players for sure, but I’m happy to be through.
“I’m happy that I won this kind of battle because this is exactly the match I needed. I struggled the last two tournaments–I didn’t play well–and sometimes good things happen after you fight through one of these matches, so I’m hoping that will be the case for me at this tournament.”
Elsewhere in the tournament, Brit Arthur Fery was unable to repeat his grand slam heroics from earlier in the year as he crashed out in New York.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist, 24, was beaten by Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets (6-3 6-3 7-5). He said afterwards: “I know what I have to work on. I got a lot of ideas coming straight off the court of what I have to work on to do better.
“My serve really let me down, which is not usually the case, but I’ve been struggling a little bit to find my rhythm on the serve. Playing guys at that level, it’s tough and the margins are small.”
