WHAT HAPPENED: In a nearly four-hour battle, Alexander Zverev defeated Grigor Dimitrov, 6-7(2), 7-6(8), 6-1, 6-1, to reach Round 4 at the US Open for the fourth time in the last five years.
Before the match, Zverev owned this head-to-head 5-1, with the Bulgarian’s sole win coming in 2014—when the German was only 17 years old and ranked outside the world’s Top 100. They’d just met a mere three weeks prior in Cincinnati, where Zverev scored a decisive 6-2, 6-2 victory. Of course, lopsided match-ups mean very little when Dimitrov is playing under the lights at Flushing Meadows; this is the location, after all, where he got his first win over Roger Federer in eight attempts.
And initially, this contest between the two felt different. Zverev consistently picked on his opponent’s backhand, frequently rushing the net to put pressure on the No. 19 seed’s weaker shot, which no doubt has given him an advantage in their previous clashes. But the Bulgarian was, in a sense, feeling himself—and finding his backhand down the line. And just like he did against Andy Murray in the second round, Dimitrov showed off his remarkable speed and hung in the extended rallies that are the bread and butter of the Zverev playbook. Ultimately, however, thanks to some strong serving, neither player could gain a real foothold in the other’s service games, leading to a tiebreak.
It was in the tiebreak that Dimitrov brought his best. The first five points featured a 25-shot rally, a 24-shot rally, an 11-shot rally, and a 13-shot rally. The 2019 US Open semifinalist won all four, and captured the fifth by passing Zverev at the net with a backhand winner. (That slacker point only featured six shots.) He took a 5-0 lead, and eventually claimed the first set on an unreturned serve.
Dimitrov was first to break in the second, somehow reactively lobbing back a ball Zverev hit at full force by the net. But Dimitrov’s flashy shotmaking had to fall back to earth at some point, and Zverev took advantage of some unforced errors to break back. They headed to a second set tiebreak that, while featuring less grueling rallies, was markedly more dramatic than the first, lasting 18 points. Both players saved set points, but Zverev was just that much more solid, particularly on his first serve. He leveled the match on his second opportunity.
Perhaps due to the amount of time he’d spent on court during the first week—and the amount of energy he’d expended in the first two sets—Dimitrov moved with less spring in the third. He claimed just 31% of his first serve points, and Zverev raced out to a quick 4-0 lead and took a two-set advantage in a quick and tidy 28 minutes. Dimitrov called for the trainer and took a medical timeout off-court. When he came back, he still couldn’t summon his form from the first two sets and seemed to be struggling with some kind of physical issue. Zverev again broke early and was never seriously challenged on his own serve going forward.
WHAT IT MEANS: The only time Zverev didn’t reach Round 4 at the US Open was in 2022, when he didn’t play because of an injury. He next faces Italy's Jannik Sinner for a spot in the quarterfinals. Zverev also holds a decisive edge in their head-to-head, winning three of their four battles—including at the 2021 US Open.
MATCH POINT: Zverev made 82% of his returns and served just one double fault throughout this protracted bout.
