Zverev Grinds Through Five Sets Again in 2:15 AM US Open Epic

The World No. 1 Who Cannot Stop Going Five Sets

Alexander Zverev is slowly turning the 2026 US Open into his own endurance examination. For the second consecutive match at Flushing Meadows, the German world No. 1 was pushed to five sets — this time by France's Quentin Halys — before emerging 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3 in a match that lasted four hours and 33 minutes and ended at 2:15 AM local time on Friday morning.

Zverev had already needed five sets to outlast Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, a contest that finished at 1:55 AM. Now, after two back-to-back five-set battles, the 29-year-old has spent close to ten hours on court across just two rounds in New York — a workload unlike that of any other player left in the men's draw at the 2026 US Open.

Halys Leads 4-1 in the Third, Then Zverev Takes Over

The decisive passage came in the third set, when it looked most likely that Halys would level the match. The Frenchman had carved out a 4-1 lead and even produced a break point for what would have been a 5-1 advantage. Zverev refused. He reeled off five consecutive games to claim the tiebreak 7-3, swinging the momentum sharply in his favour.

Halys had his answer ready in the fourth set, grinding back into a tiebreak of his own and winning it convincingly to force the decider. But in the fifth Zverev pulled clear at the critical moments: he broke for 5-3 and closed out the match with authority. Over the full duration, the German hammered 29 aces to Halys' 18, created 20 break-point opportunities and converted five of them.

Zverev: "The Performance Was Quite Sh*t"

Refreshingly direct as ever, Zverev offered a candid assessment in post-match comments. "The performance was quite sh*t, to be honest, but I won — that's the most important thing," he said. On the stamina required for a second consecutive night marathon, the German was wry: "Another four-and-a-half hours, 2:15 am — that's what I go to the gym for." He also acknowledged the faithful few who stayed until the end inside Arthur Ashe Stadium: "The couple thousand people who stayed made up for the 15,000 that left."

Sinner ends 2026 season with knee injury, will miss Turin and Davis Cup

The ability to grind through adversity without playing his best tennis has long been one of Zverev's greatest weapons at majors. Tactically and physically he was good enough when it mattered — the fifth set saw him play some of his cleanest tennis of the night — and that, for now, is sufficient.

Tabilo Waits in the Third Round

The reward for another late-night battle is a third-round meeting with Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, the 25th seed who has been quietly formidable on hard courts throughout 2026. Tabilo's punishing groundstrokes from the back of the court could test whatever freshness Zverev has managed to restore.

Further along in Zverev's side of the draw, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton have both advanced to the third round, keeping alive the possibility of a blockbuster last-16 quarter. For Zverev, however, the immediate task is simpler: recover, reset, and somehow summon straight-set tennis after ten hours in five days. Whether he can remains the defining question surrounding the top seed at this year's US Open.