No. 1 Alexander Zverev wins last 2 sets, survives U.S. Open opener

Germany's Alexander Zverev played his first match as the top seed at a major on Tuesday, and he had to work hard to make sure he will get another this week.

The 29-year-old German rallied past Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the opening round of the U.S. Open in New York, pulling out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 win.

"I'm just happy I won," Zverev said following the 4-hour, 53-minute contest that ended at 1:55 a.m. local time. "Incredible battle. Nearly five hours for a first round. I think this is the longest first-round match I've ever played in my life, so credit to him. He played amazing tennis today ... but I'm happy to be through."

Zverev, serving at 4-5 in the fourth set, was two points away from losing the match at 30-30. However, he won that game, broke serve in the next game, then held to force a fifth set.

The only service break of the final set gave Zverev a 3-2 lead. The reigning French Open champ then served out the match.

"I'm happy that I won this kind of battle, because this is exactly the match that I needed," Zverev said. "I struggled the last two tournaments. I didn't play well. And sometimes good things happen after you fight through one of these matches. So I'm hoping that it will be the case for me."

The last time a No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round of the U.S. Open was Stefan Edberg in 1990. The last time it happened in any major tournament was when Lleyton Hewitt fell at Wimbledon in 2003.

In another five-set thriller on Tuesday, fifth-seeded Italian Flavio Cobolli overtook Argentina's Francisco Comesana for a 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Cobolli, 24, lost his serve four times in the first two sets and struggled throughout the day, getting only 54% of his first serves in play. He staved off all of Comesana's eight break points in the third set and raced to a 4-0 lead in the fourth to set up a decider.

The Argentine jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth set, but Cobolli broke back at love and the set went to 4-all. In the ninth game, Cobolli found another break and hit a mid-court forehand volley to prevail in four hours, 13 minutes.

"I want to say thanks to everybody with me on this incredible comeback that I did today," said Cobolli, who has seen his ranking move up from No. 22 to No. 6 since the beginning of the season. "After two sets down I went to the toilets and I changed everything. It's never done, you have to fight until the last point. I have a very incredible team that helped me a lot today, and maybe is the key to looking forward to the next round also."

One player the French Open finalist will be grateful not to see on the line opposite him is Arthur Fery.

Fery eliminated Cobolli in two of three previous Grand Slams in 2026, first in Melbourne in January and then on Fery's London stomping grounds earlier this summer. The loss to the unseeded Fery at Wimbledon occurred in the quarterfinals, depriving Cobolli of a run to another final.

Cobolli and Fery won't get one more Grand Slam encounter this year, as a different Italian, No. 13 seed Lorenzo Musetti, ousted Fery 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday.

The other seeded players competing in the afternoon session also prevailed in straight sets. In an all-American matchup, ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz defeated 18-year-old wild card Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and No. 24 Argentine Francisco Cerundolo eliminated Austrian Filip Misolic 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

Fritz, who reached the final two years ago, broke a two-match losing streak at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Californian's serve was brilliant, as he smashed 14 aces, double-faulted once and put 74% of his first serves on target. Despite the win, Fritz was not entirely comfortable in his first-round match.

"It's never easy to come out and play a young American," said Fritz.

Fritz will take on Italian Mattia Bellucci in the second round. Bellucci beat Zsombor Piros of Hungary 6-4, 6-2, 6-0.

Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo topped Austria's Filip Misolic 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

--Field Level Media