Alexander Zverev was supposed to be one of the safest names in the US Open draw.
He’s the No. 1 seed.
He’s the reigning French Open champion.
And with Jannik Sinner out and Carlos Alcaraz only recently returning from injury, plenty of attention has been placed on Zverev in New York.
Then Lorenzo Sonego nearly ruined everything.
The Italian pushed Zverev to the absolute edge in a wild first-round battle that lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes.
And at one point, Zverev was literally two points away from going home.
😳 ZVEREV WAS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE
Zverev started the match well enough, taking the opening set 6-4.
But Sonego wasn’t interested in simply playing the role of an underdog.
The No. 89-ranked Italian fought back and took the second set 6-3.
Then things got even crazier.
Sonego won the third set in a dramatic tiebreak, 9-7, putting Zverev one set away from an embarrassing first-round exit.
Suddenly, the top seed was fighting for his tournament life.
💣 TWO POINTS FROM DEFEAT
The fourth set became the turning point.
Sonego was serving at 5-4.
He was just two points from winning the match.
Think about that.
The No. 1 seed at the US Open was staring directly at elimination in the opening round.
But Zverev refused to fold.
He found a way to break back, held his serve and eventually took the fourth set 7-5.
One more set.
Everything was still alive.
🔥 THEN ZVEREV FOUND ANOTHER GEAR
The fifth set was another battle.
Neither player wanted to give anything away.
But eventually, Zverev created the opening he needed.
He broke Sonego and grabbed control before closing out the deciding set 6-4.
Just like that…
Zverev survived.
Not comfortably.
Not easily.
But he survived.
😮💨 THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS HARD
Coming into the tournament, Zverev had plenty of reasons to feel confident.
He’s having an excellent season.
He’s already won the French Open.
He’s the top seed.
And he’s now reached 100 Grand Slam victories this decade, joining Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner in that exclusive group.
But his opening match showed that nothing is guaranteed.
Sonego came within inches of sending one of the tournament favorites home.
🇮🇹 SONEGO DESERVES CREDIT
It’s easy to focus on Zverev’s comeback.
But Sonego deserves plenty of respect.
The Italian came out fearless.
He attacked the net.
He produced big shots.
He won the third set tiebreak.
And he had Zverev on the ropes in the fourth.
This wasn’t a case of Zverev simply playing badly.
Sonego genuinely made him work for every single point.
Even Zverev admitted afterward that Sonego played well enough to beat plenty of other players.
🏆 ZVEREV’S FIRST ROUND AS THE TOP SEED
There’s another interesting piece to this story.
This is the first time in Zverev’s career that he’s been the top seed at a Grand Slam.
That’s a completely different kind of pressure.
You’re no longer simply one of the favorites.
You’re officially the player sitting at the top of the draw.
And losing in the first round would have been historic.
Zverev avoided becoming the first men’s No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round of a Grand Slam since 2003.
👀 MAYBE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE NEEDED
Here’s the strange thing.
A match like this can actually help a player.
Zverev himself suggested that surviving such a difficult battle could be exactly what he needed after struggling in his last couple of tournaments.
Instead of cruising through a straightforward opening match, he was forced to fight.
He had to find solutions.
He had to stay mentally strong.
And he had to close out a match when the pressure was enormous.
Sometimes those are the matches that build confidence.
😬 BUT THERE’S STILL A WARNING SIGN
Let’s not pretend everything is perfect.
If Zverev wants to win his second Grand Slam title, he can’t make every round this difficult.
A five-hour battle in the first round takes something out of you.
And the opponents only get tougher from here.
He’ll now face Quentin Halys in the second round.
If Zverev struggles again, the questions will get louder.
Is he really ready to win the US Open?
Or is the pressure of being the top seed starting to catch up with him?
🔥 THE US OPEN JUST GOT INTERESTING
Zverev is still alive.
That’s what matters.
But he certainly didn’t make it easy on himself.
He went from being one of the tournament favorites to being two points from elimination.
Then he turned the entire match around.
That’s the kind of escape that can define a tournament.
Maybe this becomes the match that launches a deep run.
Maybe it was simply a warning.
Either way, Zverev now knows something:
Nobody is giving him anything.
🎾 THE BOTTOM LINE
Alexander Zverev survived one of the biggest scares of the US Open so far.
The No. 1 seed defeated Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 after nearly five hours of tennis.
At one point, Sonego was just two points away from sending him home.
Instead, Zverev fought back.
He survived.
And now his US Open title dream continues.
But after a performance this dramatic…
