US Open: Alexander Zverev survives another 5-set marathon, making ominous history as top seed in the process

Alexander Zverev is two matches into his first Grand Slam as the No. 1 seed. They have taken a total of 10 sets and more than nine hours.

After needing a five-set marathon to survive Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the 2026 US Open, the German found himself again going the distance in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over Quentin Halys in the second round. His first match ended at 1:55 a.m. local time, his second at 2:15 a.m.

If that sounds unusual, it's because it's unprecedented. Zverev is the first top seed in the Open Era to begin a Grand Slam with back-to-back five-setters, per ESPN .

He quickly went shirtless to celebrate the win.

Zverev's play fluctuated throughout the match. He still had the enormous serve, notching 29 aces and winning 82-of-103 first-serve points (80%). He also needed an inordinate amount of tries in the match's biggest moments, going 5 for 20 on break points. He was 5 for 22 on break points against Sonego as well.

He was often passive at the baseline and at one point seemed to have lost significant power on his forehand, but also benefited from some wildly off-target shots from Halys, who finished the match with 63 unforced errors to Zverev's 49.

It was nowhere close to the form Zverev will need if he wants to show his Roland-Garros title earlier this year was no fluke. His third-round opponent will be No. 25 seed Alejandro Tabilo.

The US Open is wide open for Alexander Zverev, if he can just take it

Before Zverev took the court, Thursday was shaping up to be a very good day for him.

There were three notable upsets at Flushing Meadows on the men's side that day: No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur and No. 13 Lorenzo Musetti. We can call those players by a different name: the highest possible seeds Zverev could have faced in the semifinals, quarterfinals and fourth round.

At this point, the highest seeds in front of Zverev before the semifinals are No. 21 Luciano Darderi in the fourth round and No. 31 seed Zizou Bergs in the quarterfinals.

We've seen this movie before. Zverev won Roland-Garros partially thanks to a field depleted of contenders, and we're already getting close to that point in New York. In addition to Auger-Aliassime and de Minaur, No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic went down in the first round, as did two of the most intriguing young players in the field in No. 10 Arthur Fils and No. 12 Rafael Jodar.

No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is still out there, but playing his first tournament in more than four months. Jannik Sinner, who has beaten Zverev 10 times in a row, pulled out of the draw with a knee injury.

There remain some threats in the field, most notably No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, who won the US Open in 2021, and a collection of talented Americans headlined by No. 8 Ben Shelton, No. 9 Taylor Fritz and No. 11 Frances Tiafoe.

The flip side of this is that Zverev has so far looked so vulnerable that this could be the best chance in years for an American man to break the 23-year drought since the country's last Grand Slam, Andy Roddick's US Open title in 2003.

Roddick spent the Zverev match serving as color commentator in the ESPN booth.