VCompletely exhausted, Alexander Zverev spread his arms, enjoyed the cheering of the fans and roared his joy in the New York night sky. In an epic tennis thriller over 4:41 hours, the Olympic champion fought his way into the quarterfinals of the US Open in the muggy midnight heat.
The 26-year-old prevailed 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3 against the slightly favored Italian Jannik Sinner and converted the match point at 1.40 a.m. Now Zverev faces an even more difficult task: In the round of the top eight there is a duel with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.
“It’s one of the best moments of my career,” enthused Zverev. “It’s what I live for, I love it. I would have been happy if we had played a little shorter.”
Ice cream for the head and neck
At 27 degrees at the start of the match, high humidity and stuffy air in the arena, both players fought until they dropped. Zverev cooled his head and neck with ice and changed his soaked clothes and shoes several times. At times, Sinner could barely walk, but got back up. In the end, the superior physique was the decisive factor for Zverev.
In the middle of the fourth set there was a scandal. Zverev reported to the referee that a spectator said the “most famous Hitler sentence”. The man was then escorted from the stands by security forces.
Unimpressed by the incident, Zverev celebrated only his second victory over a player from the top ten in the world rankings in a Grand Slam on the 14th attempt. The only one of these successes before was the Hamburger against his next opponent Alcaraz at the French Open 2022. The 20-year-old Spaniard is in great form at this US Open and easily won his round of 16 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 4 the Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
Crackling mood
For Zverev it is the tenth quarterfinal participation in a Grand Slam tournament, so he drew level with Michael Stich. Only Boris Becker (23) managed to do this more often in the professional era for men as a German tennis player.
More than 23,000 spectators spread a sizzling atmosphere in the world’s largest tennis stadium. “It’s great to play here and enjoy the atmosphere,” enthused Zverev just before entering the pitch. The sympathies were slightly divided in favor of Sinner.
The fans saw a balanced opening phase. Both players initially looked for their best form. Zverev made the break to 3: 2, but immediately gave up his serve. The “Carota Boys”, a group of Sinner fans in orange carrot costumes, cheered the equalizer with loud singing in the middle tier of the arena.
In the gripping but not always high-quality opening set, seven out of ten games went beyond the debut. The ninth game alone lasted more than ten minutes. Zverev took the serve from Sinner with a strong backhand, with two aces the Hamburger got the round after 69 minutes.
But the sense of achievement did not bring security at first. After a double fault, Zverev suffered the quick break. Sinner had treatment on his right leg, but initially continued to move smoothly, reducing his immense error rate and becoming more active. After an hour and a half, Zverev changed his shoes and dried the sweaty pair with paper. It didn’t help, Sinner got the set with an ace.
fitness as a factor
Despite the open roof, the climate remained oppressive – and fitness was a factor. Zverev was on the pitch for more than nine and a half hours in the previous three games, Sinner more than two hours less.
But the Italian, who was four years his junior, moved more and more sluggishly, stretching the back of his left thigh again and again. After losing the serve to make it 2: 4, Sinner limped to the bank and seemed to have a cramp. Zverev sympathetically grabbed his back. The Hamburger won four games in a row, a net roller sealed the win of the third set. Both players disappeared to the toilet for a long time.
Suddenly Zverev also had problems. After rallies, the 26-year-old took a deep breath, kept grimacing and was struck. It took around 16 minutes for Zverev to break through his first service game of set four. After the fuss about the spectator being kicked out, Sinner looked fresher again, the Italian forced the decisive sentence.
It stayed dramatic. Zverev stumbled, fell, but was unhurt. A little later he celebrated the 3-0 lead after a great point, the audience cheered. But Sinner remained stubborn. The resistance was only broken after more than four and a half hours, Zverev was allowed to cheer.
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