WHAT HAPPENED: Alexander Zverev showed off his supreme fitness on Monday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No. 12 seed and 2020 US Open finalist advanced to the quarterfinals after outlasting No. 6 seed Jannik Sinner in a grueling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 thriller that finished at 1:39 a.m.
The four-hour, 41-minute match is both the longest contest and the latest finish at the 2023 US Open.
"I guess I can say I'm back," said a smiling Zverev in his on-court interview. "This is exactly what I live for. This is what I love to do... playing at 1:30 a.m., in front of a packed crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. It doesn't get any better. This is one of the best moments of my career."
The opening set saw six consecutive games go to deuce as Sinner and Zverev went toe-to-toe in lengthy baseline rallies. The match reached the one-hour mark at 4-4 in the first set and Zverev made his move moments later, striking a backhand volley and backhand baseline winner to secure a crucial break. The German wrapped up the set in the next game with back-to-back aces.
Sinner immediately regrouped in the second set, quickly breaking Zverev as he stormed out to a 3-0 advantage. Although the Italian was able to maintain his lead, the humidity on court and physicality required to win points against Zverev began to take its toll. He began to point to his right quad and move at a slower pace in between points, but managed to keep the points short on his own serve. Sinner fired an ace on his first set point to level the match at one set each.
The Italian’s physical woes only got worse in the third set, though. He experienced a full cramp in his lower left leg at 2-2 in the third set and needed to briefly stop play one game later. Zverev took full advantage of his opponent’s reduced movement by extending the rallies and forcing Sinner to try to end points early from low-percentage positions. He went on a four-game run to take a commanding advantage, striking a forehand winner on set point that prompted an audible gasp from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Sinner took a medical timeout afterwards for treatment on his legs, but any benefits that the physio provided were quickly erased after Zverev opened the fourth set by holding serve in a marathon 15-minute game. But it was Zverev who started to deteriorate as the match surpassed the three-hour mark.
While Sinner coasted through his service games in the fourth set, Zverev was forced to deuce in most of his. The pivotal moment of the fourth set came at 4-4 as Zverev hit a costly double fault to hand a break to Sinner. The Italian comfortably held in the next game to force a deciding set.
This time, it was Zverev who jumped out to an early lead in the decider, breaking Sinner in the second game after the Italian gifted a forehand unforced error. Zverev literally brought Sinner to the ground in the next game, crushing a forehand to hold serve in a 20-point game for which the crowd gave both players a standing ovation.
In serving out the match, Zverev escaped 15-30 and sealed the deal with a big first serve, letting out a cry of delight. He finished with 56 winners to 46 errors, winning a total of 166 points compared to 155 for Sinner.
"I think he was cramping in the third set. In the fourth set, he was physically much better than me. I was struggling a lot," said Zverev. "And then somehow in the fifth set I picked it up again, I felt much better. And then from there on, I got the early break and just served it out from there."
WHAT IT MEANS: Zverev’s win over Sinner signaled that he’s back to the level which took him within one game of the US Open title three years ago. This is his second consecutive victory against a Top 10 player after defeating Daniil Medvedev three weeks ago in Cincinnati. The German was 0-8 against Top 10 players this year prior to his win over Medvedev.
He returned to action in January after missing the second half of last year with torn ligaments in his right ankle—an injury that was sustained during his Roland Garros semifinal with Rafael Nadal. Zverev’s results were modest at the beginning of the year, but he’s come alive in the past three months. He’s gone 26-6 since the start of Roland Garros, reaching the semifinals in Paris and Cincinnati, and capturing a title on home soil in Hamburg.
Next up for Zverev is a blockbuster quarterfinal with top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets earlier in the day. Zverev leads their head-to-head 3-2 and won both of their previous meetings on hard courts in 2021. However, Alcaraz dropped just three games en route to defeating Zverev during their most recent meeting this May on the clay of Madrid.
"I think everybody, before the tournament, was looking for two matchups: Alcaraz-Novak in the final, and Alcaraz-Sinner in the quarterfinals. So maybe I can make sure that both of those don't happen," Zverev joked post-match. "It's obviously going to be one of the toughest matches for me [against Alcaraz in the quarters] and I need to recover, that's for sure."
MATCH POINT: Zverev has reached the US Open quarterfinals for the third consecutive time, not including his injury absence in 2022. The German owns a 22-7 career record in New York.
