WHAT HAPPENED: Alexander Zverev was down a set against resurgent American Jack Sock in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the German righted the ship and took a two-sets-to-one lead before Sock was forced to retire due to an injury, trailing, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-1 (ret.).
Zverev advances to the Round of 16, where he will face Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
It was a sizzling start for the 184th-ranked wild card in his first third-round appearance at a major since the 2017 Australian Open. Sock pummelled 18 winners against just three unforced errors and didn’t face a break point as he claimed the opener in 30 minutes.
“If Jack would have continued playing the way he was playing the first set, I would have been done in an hour-and-a-half, I would have planned my holidays and I would have had a good time next week somewhere in the South of France,” Zverev told the crowd after the match. “Jack is an incredible player, he’s been Top 10, he’s beaten me multiple times, he’s beaten top players multiple times, he’s a Masters 1000 champion and he showed it in the first set.
“I hope he can get healthy again, and he’ll be at the top of the game real soon.”
Sock’s sizzle would soon fizzle, and he had the on-court physio wrap his right thigh after the first game of the second set. It wasn’t long before Zverev took the upper hand.
“It’s difficult to sometimes play someone who is not at 100 percent,” Zverev later said. “I think everybody saw that Jack was really struggling physically and I think you have to keep your focus. At the end of the day we are all competitors.”
Despite the loss, it was a big step for Sock at this year’s US Open. He has not been inside the Top 100 since October of 2018, but the former world No. 8 looks ready to make a push.
“Jack I think played the best set of tennis I've ever seen him play,” Zverev said. “I did one unforced error in the whole set and I lost it, 6-3, without having really any chances. If he would have kept it up I probably would not have won the match. To be honest, if he hits 17 winners and—what was it?—two unforced errors, there's not much you can do.
“Afterwards when he gets injured, it's a shame because otherwise it would have been an incredible match I think.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Zverev is high on confidence after claiming the Olympic gold medal at Tokyo last month. He has won 14 consecutive matches and is hoping that he can follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray, who parlayed his gold medal from the 2012 Olympic Games in London into his first major title a month later at the US Open.
But the German knows that many challenges lie ahead. If the seeds hold, he is projected to face 20-time major singles champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. But even before that highly anticipated tilt, there are tough customers to defeat.
“I’m on a 14-match winning streak now,” Zverev said. “I’m playing well. That’s all I want to say, I don’t want to say anything else. We all know that Novak is the big favorite, we all know that Daniil [Medvedev] is playing incredible tennis, we all know that there are a lot of other players out there that are playing incredible tennis. I think my fourth-round match against Jannik Sinner is going to be extremely entertaining because he’s a young guy that is very hungry and I feel like that’s going to be a high-level match.”
MATCH POINT: Zverev has only spent four hours and 52 minutes on court through three rounds. Not known for brevity in his previous 24 major singles appearances, this new development could aid the No. 4 seed in the second week. He’ll need extra energy for the road ahead and he’s likely to have it thanks to the way he eased through his first three rounds.
“It has always mattered,” Zverev explained to reporters about his time on court playing a role in his success at the business end of Slams. “ If I'm down two sets to love or two sets to one, I have to stay on the court to win the match. It's great to spend as little time as possible on the court in the first week because that is where you kind of gain and win in the second week.
“So physically I feel fine. I'm happy where I am. But I also do know that the opponents are not going to get easier and the matches are going to get more difficult. Maybe it's having the battles you had in the past and knowing what to expect.”
