After nearly ten hours on court, top-seeded Alexander Zverev is into the third round in New York.

Chris OddoSeptember 4, 20262 minute read

Alexander Zverev has been spending quite a bit of time in the gritty hard courts of Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

The top-seeded German edged Frances Quentin Halys, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 to reach the third round. He had to spend four hours and 33 minutes to do it. The win, coupled with his four hour and 52 minute over Lorenzo Sonego, means that Zverev has logged nine hours and 35 minutes through two rounds. 

“Physically, I feel fine,” Zverev said. “I am proud, I think, to be physically quite strong. I just hope at some point I’ll start playing better tennis. I’m winning ugly right now. It’s also a skill to win ugly and when you’re not playing great tennis. I think I’ve mastered that right now. I hope I’ll start playing better tennis.

“I said it last year, New York has always been difficult for me. Just the conditions, it’s really difficult for me to play good tennis here, but I hope I’ll find something.”

On a very muggy New York evening, the 2026 Roland Garros champion braved the conditions, his tennis shoes needing changing at times because they were soaked through. The match ended at 2:15am. 

Zverev hit 29 aces and earned 20 break points on the evening. He improved to 3-0 against Halys and 30-10 lifetime. 

The German will face Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in the third round in Flushing. 

“I think he’s risen up the rankings quite nicely this year,” he said of Tabilo, who defeated Alexei Popyrin on Day 5, 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-2. “I played him last year first round, but I think he’s a much better tennis player now. I’ll expect another difficult match.”