Alexander Zverev has continued a long-running theme in men's tennis by emerging victorious at the US Open.
Zverev edged out Ben Shelton in the final of the hard-court Grand Slam in New York, winning their clash in five sets.
And with his impressive US Open run, the German has just completed a clean sweep for European players in the 2026 men's Grand Slam season.
He also won the French Open, while his fellow Europeans Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon respectively.
In fact, the ATP records must go back a full 17 years to find the last Grand Slam champion who wasn't born in Europe; Juan Martin del Potro.

#alexander #german #french

Elena Rybakina demonstrated why she is the best women's player in the world by beating two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka to win her first US Open ***** le.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina already knew she would be the new world number one after Saturday's final regardless of the result, and she celebrated with a 6-4 5-7 6-2 victory over the player she will replace.
Rybakina was the more composed of the two throughout as she claimed the third Grand Slam ***** le of her career, having triumphed at Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year.
Sabalenka hoped to soften the blow of losing the top ranking by winning a third consecutive US Open ***** le - but looked fraught in a tense performance.
Rybakina and Sabalenka have developed a strong rivalry built not only on their outstanding talent but their contrasting personalities.

#title

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 27: Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan practises with Coach Stefano Vukov ahead of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) Getty
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan looks on against Qinwen Zheng of China during their Women's Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Eleven of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 09, 2026 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Getty
The coach of Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, Stefano Vukov, supports her from the players box as she competes against Belarus' Victoria Azarenka during their women's singles semi-final match on day eleven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2023. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by MARTIN KEEP/AFP via Getty Images) Getty
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: Stefano Vukov watches Elena Rybakina train before The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 25, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) Getty
Elena Rybakina is a professional tennis player widely regarded as one of the world's best. Her coach, Stefano Vukov, is also rumored to be her boyfriend. Vukov transitioned from playing professionally to coaching Rybakina. The 39-year-old was born on March 27, 1987.

#rybakina #elena #london

Britain's Alfie Hewett beat Tokito Oda to clinch a fifth US Open men's wheelchair singles ***** le and prevent the ***** anese top seed from completing a clean sweep at the Grand Slams in 2026.
A 6-0 7-6 (7-5) victory meant Hewett added to the doubles ***** le he won alongside fellow Briton Gordon Reid on Friday.
Hewett, 28, lost to Oda in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, winning only two games in a 6-1 6-1 defeat at SW19, while the ***** anese also triumphed at January's Australian Open.
Hewett told BBC Sport that his loss to Oda at Wimbledon made him "look in the mirror" and a period of reflection led to him wanting to "be a little bit more like me" as he pursued an 11th Grand Slam singles ***** le.
"I'm known for being just as fearless, brave and courageous in big moments and I felt I was everything but that in Wimbledon," Hewett said.

#hewett #open

Update morning 9/12: Ben Shelton outlasted fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the all-American semifinal to set up a dramatic men's final vs. top-seeded German Alexander Zverev on Sunday afternoon. Zverev has had quite an easy draw to the final, and he'll be the favorite to win his second major this year. Shelton's big serve will test him, and it will be on Shelton to hit competitive backhands to match strokes with Zverev, who also won the French Open. Meanwhile, the women's final between No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina should be a banger, and that kicks off in just a few hours.
Update late night 9/10: It will be No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina for the women's ****** le at the 2026 US Open on Saturday afternoon. The men take the spotlight on Friday with an all-American semifinal between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, plus No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev vs. unseeded Karen Khachanov.
The 2026 US Open is down to the Final Four, and both the men's and women's draws have produced some fantastic matchups. It's been 23 years since an American man won a tennis Grand Slam, but there are two U.S. natives facing off against each other in the semifinals — on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, no less. The women's draw went straight chalk with the top four seeds advancing to the semis, promising to bring fans the highest level of tennis possible.
The women's semifinals both take place on Thursday, September 10. Top-seeded masher Aryna Sabalenka takes on American No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula to open play at 7 p.m. ET at Arthur Ashe. Sabalenka looked to be on the brink of a meltdown in the quarterfinals against Wimbledon champ Linda Nosková, but she dug deep to win the match and stay alive. Sabalenka is the biggest hitter on tour, but she's been in a slump in 2026 without a major championship. She has already lost her world No. 1 ranking after the tournament, but she won't care if she can win her fifth major and third straight US Open ****** le. The 32-year-old Pegula is enjoying a late career peak, and she's still chasing her first Grand Slam. Pegula's steady nature could be an advantage against the more emotional Sabalenka.
Elena Rybakina faces American Coco Gauff in the night cap. Rybakina is the No. 2 seed in this tournament, but she will surpass Sabalenka for the world No. 1 ranking when it's over regardless of what happens. At 27, Rybakina is the second-oldest woman to ever ascend to world No. 1 in the rankings for the first time. Gauff will be the fan favorite. She was not at her top level in her quarterfinal victory over Mirra Andreeva, but she still got the job done to advance. Gauff beat Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final and the 2025 French Open final. She's seeking her third major at age-22.

#final

Six years after an agonizing loss in the US Open final, Alexander Zverev says "everything is different" as he returns to the ***** le match in Flushing Meadows.
The top-seeded German held off a battling Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) on Friday to reach his third straight Grand Slam final.
Zverev admits his US Open near miss against Dominic Thiem in 2020 left scar tissue, but all the doubts have finally been dispelled with his maiden major at the French Open.
He followed that with a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, and even though he knows he'll be in hostile territory on Sunday -- taking on either American Ben Shelton or compatriot Frances Tiafoe -- he relishes the challenge.
"I think a lot has happened," he said. "I've played in a lot of other finals. I've played a lot of big matches since then.

#alexander

Alexander Zverev beat Karen Khachanov at the US Open to reach a third Grand Slam final in a row and continue his bid for a second major of the year.
The top seed put in a commanding performance to beat the Russian 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6).
Germany's Zverev is the favourite in New York after ending his long wait for a Grand Slam ***** le with his French Open triumph in June.
He reached the Wimbledon final in July, losing in four sets to world number one Jannik Sinner.
The 29-year-old will play either eighth seed Ben Shelton or 11th seed Frances Tiafoe in Sunday's showpiece, with the two Americans set to meet in Friday's night session.

#slam

Ben Shelton has an older sister, Emma Shelton
She was a highly ranked tennis player in college at the University of Florida, where their father still works as the head coach
During the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Ben jokingly asked the crowd to help Emma get more time off work so she could keep watching him play
Ben Shelton can count on his family's support as he advances in the US Open semifinals on Sept. 11 — including that of his older sister, Emma Shelton.
Like her pro athlete younger brother, Emma played tennis. She rose through the ranks on the women's tennis teams for the University of South Carolina and the University of Florida, where their dad, former professional tennis player Bryan Shelton, has worked as the men's tennis head coach.

#shelton #Florida #player

NEW YORK – It was a double celebration for Katerina Siniakova and for Taylor Townsend, the final piece of the puzzle to a career Grand Slam.
Siniakova and Townsend, the tournament's No. 1 seed, captured their first U.S. Open women's doubles ******* le together, rallying to beat young Americans Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the final in Arthur Ashe Stadium on on Friday, Sept. 11.
Townsend, a 30 year-old American, and Siniakova, a 30-year-old from Czechia, captured their first major ******* le at Wimbledon in 2024 before adding the 2025 Australian Open, the 2026 French Open and this US Open championship.
Townsend and Siniakova found themselves down 0-3, and went on to lose the first set, but then they turned it on, blanking the wildcard entrants in the second set, before slamming and forehand baselining their way to a 6-2 closing set.
MEN'S SEMIFINALS HIGHLIGHTS: Zverev faces Khachanov and Shelton faces Tiafoe for place in final

#open #final

NEW YORK — The large signage that is on the front of the world's biggest tennis stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows should tell you all you need to know about the impact of the man whose name it bears; who meant so many things to so many people during his short time on this Earth.
Arthur Ashe not only shattered barriers, he made sure that glass would never be repaired. He wanted the next generation, especially young Black Americans, to have a place in the game he loved so much.
So, when Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton take the court Friday night in the second US Open semifinal, it is not only a triumph for Black Americans but also for the sport of tennis.
The winner of the match will be the first Black American man to reach a US Open singles final since Ashe in 1972, and the first Black American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.
"I think it's an exciting time," Washington said to USA TODAY Sports. "If one of them goes on to win the US Open, it will be the greatest sports story certainly of this year, and certainly of this decade. I think it shows how the growth and progression of tennis is going in the right direction. They are two great representatives of what tennis can be and what American tennis can be.

#tennis #black #open #americans

Aryna Sabalenka takes out Jessica Pegula to book U.S. Open final spot appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Power was the order of the day for Aryna Sabalenka in her semifinal match in the U.S. Open, and the defending champion rolled to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Sabalenka is the two-time defending champion at the U.S. Open, but she failed in efforts to add to her major championships in the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year. She appeared to have a very tough match on her hands against Pegula, as the two battled on even terms through the first 10 games of the opening set.
However, Sabalenka took a 6-5 advantage on her own serve and then used her power and sharp directional returns to break Pegula in the final game of the set.
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#open #clutchpoints #power #appeared

Great Britain's Neal Skupski and his American partner Christian Harrison are through to the US Open men's doubles final after beating top seeds Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara.
The Australian Open champions secured a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win in an hour and 23 minutes and are yet to drop a set at this year's tournament.
Liverpool-born Skupski, 36, is hoping to claim his fifth Grand Slam **** le and third in the men's doubles.
After success at Wimbledon in 2023 with Wesley Koolhof and in Australia earlier this year alongside Harrison, Skupski once again has a maiden triumph at Flushing Meadows in his sights.
He and fellow Briton Joe Salisbury missed three championship points when they lost last year's final.

#neal #christian

NEW YORK — In a quarterfinal that offered a contrast in styles, it was the intense Aryna Sabalenka and her obvious force that overcame laid-back Linda Nosková and her stealthy power Tuesday on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The defending U.S. Open champion knocked off this year's Wimbledon champion 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(7), by reversing the narrative of her season since April.
When Nosková's unflappability under pressure left the world No. 1 facing a 4-2 deficit in the third set — as well as the loss of her ranking — Sabalenka did not spiral to defeat, as she has done several times the past few months.
Instead, she found the indomitable poise and unstoppable power that has carried her to the top of the sport, advancing to a sixth consecutive U.S. Open semifinal.

She is sure to play an American — either the No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula or the No. 26 seed Emma Navarro — and she has the opportunity to maintain her status at the top of the game.
Sabalenka was in control early on. In the first set, Nosková worked her way back from 5-2 down to make it 5-5 then force a tiebreak, but her hard work was for naught.

#champion

Tennis icon and 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert has been away from her broadcasting duties since her ovarian cancer returned for the third time following her initial diagnosis in 2021. Evert is currently undergoing treatment and has stepped away from broadcasting at Wimbledon and the ongoing US Open.
American sports journalist and senior writer for Sports Illustrated Jon Wertheim shared a heartfelt social media post honoring Evert, noting that she is deeply missed at Flushing Meadows.
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"Hearing her voice on the USTA Foundation commercials reminds us that ChrissieEvert is a) so thoroughly decent and charitable and oozing with grace b) so thoroughly missed here," Wertheim wrote on X.
Evert was quick to share a couple of responses to Wertheim's heartfelt post.

#sports

Carlos Alcaraz continued his return from long-term injury with a hugely impressive fourth-round win against Tommy Paul at the US Open.
Playing just his fourth competitive singles match after an absence of more than four months, the 23-year-old Spaniard produced a masterful performance to beat American 20th seed Paul 6-4 6-3 6-4.
He has dropped only one set on his way to the last eight in New York and his quarter-final opponent will be either American eighth seed Ben Shelton or Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.
A wrist injury caused Alcaraz to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this summer.
He had won the previous two Grand Slams - last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open - meaning the straight-set victory over Paul extended his run of match wins at the majors to 18.

#american #fourth #seed #carlos

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz posted his most convincing win so far, downing Tommy Paul in straight sets Sunday to reach the US Open quarter-finals, where two-time women's champion Aryna Sabalenka will meet Wimbledon winner Linda Noskova.
Second-seeded Alcaraz, playing his first tournament since he was sidelined by a right wrist injury in April, looked closer to his brilliant best in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paul.
The 20th-seeded American posted the sternest test yet for Alcaraz, and he passed it with flying colors.
"I played my game," said Alcaraz, who unleashed 33 winners as he moved fluidly around the court in the two-hour 20-minute match.
"I tried to play my style," he said. "Tommy is such a talented player. His shots are pretty dangerous and sometimes it's really difficult to control the ball when it comes to you.

#posted #seeded #carlos

There won't be a swarm of influencers at Wimbledon next summer after how things have gone so far at the US Open.
Wimbledon does not plan to allow an influx of influencers at the Grand Slam next summer, according to The Press ***** ociation. Security will confiscate items, like ring lights, that could be used to disrupt matches, and Wimbledon will not have any accreditation category for influencers or content creators.
That is in stark contrast to the US Open this fall, which has seen plenty of influencers and other content creators throughout the tournament. That's caused multiple issues already, too.
While the US Open has traditionally had the rowdiest crowd among the four Grand Slams, the influencer debate has taken off throughout the tournament. Roughly 100 influencers and content creators were credentialed as media this year, nearly twice as many from 2025. A pair of influencers had their credentials revoked, too.
People have been creating content at the tournament during matches, including staging photoshoots and bringing in lighting. Naomi Osaka's first-round match even had to be paused.

#wimbledon #open #content #next

Carlos Alcaraz continued his return from long-term injury with a hugely impressive fourth-round win against Tommy Paul at the US Open.
Playing just his fourth competitive singles match after an absence of more than four months, the 23-year-old Spaniard produced a masterful performance to beat American 20th seed Paul 6-4 6-3 6-4.
He has dropped only one set on his way to the last eight in New York and his quarter-final opponent will be either American eighth seed Ben Shelton or Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.
A wrist injury caused Alcaraz to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this summer.
He had won the previous two Grand Slams - last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open - meaning the straight-set victory over Paul extended his run of match wins at the majors to 18.

#open #paul #american #last

Carlos Alcaraz is moving on after a definitive win over Tommy Paul, beating the American in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
In a baffling stat, Sunday's third-set victory marks the 14th straight set that Alcaraz has won against Paul. The American has not won a set over Alcaraz since Wimbledon in 2024, even though the pair have faced off four times since then.
Though Paul was unable to break through again this time, he did put up a close fight in the first set: Alcaraz and Paul traded games, until the young Spaniard finally broke the American's serve to eventually win 6-4.
Alcaraz looked like he was on his way to an easy win in the second set, but Paul started to battle back, fighting off multiple break points before Alcaraz was able to hold him off.
Paul fought another break from Alcaraz in the the third game of the set, scoring three unanswered points to claw back from a near-scoreless game. But Alcaraz recovered well to ******* the break point and send him on the path to victory.

#paul

Jannik Sinner is missed by the tennis world at the 2026 US Open. The defending Wimbledon champion and reigning ATP World No. 1 player has been out of commission with a knee injury.
In the preceding years, fans grew accustomed to seeing Sinner and his biggest rival Carlos Alcaraz compete against each other for Grand Slam ***** les. 2026 has been a different story with only the Australian Open following that script. Alcaraz missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a wrist injury prior to Sinner opting out of the US Open.
However, fans were happy to see Sinner out and about today at a somewhat expected location, outside of a tennis court, at a Formula 1 race in Italy. The Italian Grand Prix originated in 1921, and we know the Sinner family are big fans.
MORE: Learner Tien follows in Andy Roddick's footsteps with US Open R3 win
He arrived with his dad and graciously signed autographs.

#sinner #open #tennis

Amanda Anisimova, runner-up at the 2025 US Open, fell Saturday in the third round to Anastasia Potapova, who capitalized on a flood of unforced errors from the American.
Potapova, seeded 24th, topped the 10th-seeded Anisimova 6-2, 7-5.
Anisimova enjoyed a sterling 2025, also reaching the final of Wimbledon and winning two prestigious tour events, but she has struggled to approach her level from last year.
Potapova took full advantage of 46 unforced errors from Anisimova, who had already been pushed hard in her second-round win over another Austrian, Lilli Tagger.
Potapova, who was born in Russia but now plays for Austria, will next face either fifth-seeded reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, a 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) winner over Czech Nikola Bartunkova.

#potapova #amanda

Coco Gauff is back on the tennis court for the 2026 US Open. On September 5, she'll play in the third round of the tournament. The young athlete is just 22 years old, but she already has US Open and French Open ***** les under her belt. In her most recent Grand Slam appearance, she made the semifinals of Wimbledon earlier this summer.
While Gauff keeps her personal life very separate from her tennis career, there's been a great interest in her love life amid her rise to the top of the tennis rankings. Below, we rounded up everything we know.
In 2023, Gauff started dating Jalen Sera. "This is my first real relationship," she admitted in a 2024 Time interview. "To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective."
However, Gauff's August social media activity has sparked speculation that she and Sera may have broken up. She reposted a TikTok video that said, "I am a lover with or without a lover. because love is who i am not who i'm with," and another that said, "How do you expect new beginnings if you don't create ***** e for them. end cycles let people go, let go of an old mindset, create ***** e."
Coco Gauff/Instagram

#tennis #sera #life

Serena and Venus Williams will take the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday night at the U.S. Open.
The sisters will kick off the night session against No. 14 seeds Maya Joint and H.C. Chan in women's doubles. The match will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.
Ironically, Williams also faced Joint, the 20-year-old Australian, in her return to the singles court at Wimbledon after nearly four years off, losing in the first round 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3.
The Williams sisters have played doubles together at the U.S. Open nine times (1997, '99, 2000-01, '09, '12-14, '22), going 27-7 and winning both the 1999 and 2009 ******* les.
Serena played in the U.S. Open's Mixed Doubles Championship last week with Carlos Alcaraz, reaching the quarterfinals. She did not play singles, but Venus did and lost in the first round to fellow American Sofia Kenin.

#serena #open

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Serena and Venus Williams will be participating in women's doubles as a wild-card entry at this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament. Their first match pits them against the doubles team of Maya Joint and Chan Hao-Ching. (Earlier in the tennis season, Australia's Joint defeated Serena Williams in the first round at her highly anticipated Grand Slam comeback at Wimbledon.) The first round of the women's doubles competition begins today, Thursday, Sept. 3, but the Williams' match isn't on the schedule, which means they'll play sometime during the day on Friday, Sept. 4.
Here's everything you need to know to watch Venus and Serena Williams compete as doubles partners at the 2026 U.S. Open tennis tournament, plus, check out the full TV schedule, where to stream matches without cable and more.
Date: September 4, 2026
Time: TBD

#tennis #open #sept #tournament

Aryna Sabalenka took the next step on the road to a rare US Open three-peat, routing qualifier Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 to join a raft of contenders cruising into the third round on Wednesday.
Men's defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was seeking to join them when he took on Portugal's Jaime Faria in the nightcap on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz won his seventh major ***** le at the Australian Open in January but arrived in New York an unknown quantity after a wrist injury forced a four-month layoff that saw him miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
He dispelled doubts with a straight-sets first-round victory over Roman Safiullin and will look for further improvement against 72nd-ranked Faria.
World number one Sabalenka, without a ***** le since her impressive Indian Wells-Miami double in March was in attack mode as she overpowered 160th-ranked Russian qualifier Iatcenko in just 53 minutes.

#sabalenka #title

It's so far, so good for Carlos Alcaraz in his first tennis tournament in four-and-a-half month. But not without some stumbles.
The Spaniard encountered early trouble in the second round of the US Open against the unseeded Jaime Faria, but then shifted up a gear in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win at Flushing Meadows. He will face China's Yibing Wu in the third round.
The win means the 23-year-old Alcaraz still has not lost an ATP match to a player younger than him. Faria is roughly three months younger than him.
A slow start was understandable for Alcaraz, who last played in Barcelona in mid-April. He had been on the shelf since then with a wrist injury, forcing him to miss both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. He didn't have much trouble in the first round, dispatching Roman Safiullin in straight sets.
Faria came out with a different look. After an exchange of easy holds, Alcaraz pressured Faria's serve in a 14-point game that ended in a hold for the challenger. Faria then returned the favor by breaking Alcaraz in another 14-point game to take a 4-3 lead and, later, the set.

#round #first #trouble

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka trains during Fan Week at the 2026 US Open. Getty
Aryna Sabalenka and her fiancé, Georgios Frangulis, plan to wed next year. Getty
Aryna Sabalenka poses with her fiancé, Georgios Frangulis, who proposed in March 2026. Getty
Aryna Sabalenka looks to win her third consecutive US Open ******* le at Flushing Meadows this month. After defeating Camila Osorio in straight sets, Sabalenka takes on Polina Iatcenko in the second round on September 2.
Sabalenka's No. 1 world ranking is at stake should she stumble at the 2026 US Open. After disappointing finishes at the past several tournaments, including a quarterfinal exit at the French Open and losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

#getty #georgios #round #week

Top-seeded Alexander Zverev scraped into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday, beating 89th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5, 6-4.
Zverev fought off a determined challenge from Sonego in a tense all-court battle spiced by unlikely retrievals, impossibly angled winners and some inexplicable errors, which wrapped up on Arthur Ashe Stadium after four hours and 53 minutes at 1:55 in the morning.
"I'm just happy I won, that's it," Zverev said. "Incredible battle, a lot of up and downs -- nearly five hours for a first round, I think it's the longest first round match I ever played in my life.
"Credit to him, he played an incredible match," Zverev said, adding it was just the kind of battle he needed after lackluster performances in two hard court tournaments coming into the Open.
Zverev, who followed his first Grand Slam ***** le at Roland Garros with a Wimbledon final appearance, notched his seventh win in as many matches against Sonego.

#zverev #incredible

NEW YORK (AP) — Alexander Zverev rallied just in time to avoid becoming the first men's No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since 2003, edging Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 in a match that ended Wednesday morning.
Zverev won his first major **** le at the French Open, lost to top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, then became the No. 1 seed in a major for the first time when Sinner had to withdraw with a right knee injury.
He couldn't cash in on repeated chances to break Sonego's serve for much of the night and was in danger of becoming the first top-seeded man to fall in his first match in a major since Ivo Karlovic beat Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003.
It hasn't happened at the U.S. Open since Stefan Edberg lost to Alexander Volkov in 1990. Zverev finally broke through against Sonego's serve late to pull out the match in 4 hours, 52 minutes.
Zverev is 7-0 against Sonego, an Italian who came in 1-9 against top-10 men in Grand Slams. But Sonego's speed around the court allowed him to track down **** that on other nights would have been winners, and he came up with enough clutch serves to make Zverev just 5 for 22 on break points for the match.

#zverev #first #match #sonego

NEW YORK — It has largely been forgotten to history, but the last time Coco Gauff came in as the US Open favorite, her first-round match turned into an anxiety check. Down a set to Laura Siegemund, whose tricky strokes and gamesmanship got under Gauff's skin, it forced her to dig deep right away en route to her first major ***** le three years ago.
There was a moment in Gauff's 2026 debut Tuesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium when things could have taken a similar course. After cruising through the first set and quickly breaking to start the second against, Gauff's opponent Zeynep Sonmez started redlining.
In tennis parlance, redlining is essentially when an underdog decides they have nothing to lose, starts taking big risks and gets into a groove where every shot seems to go in. In a blink, Gauff went from cruising to a quick victory to down 2-3 and facing a break point. With Sonmez taking huge cuts at the ball and landing some heavy punches, it looked like things might get complicated.
But Gauff in 2026 is not as easily flustered under the weight of heavy expectations as she was at age 19. Instead, Gauff can now turn matches like this into just another day at the office, raising her game on cue to wrap up a 6-3, 6-4 win in 80 minutes.
Though Gauff's form was uneven in the first part of the tennis season, there's a reason why she looks like a good bet to win her second US Open this year. Since the start of Wimbledon, Gauff is 16-2 and won the Cincinnati ***** le in dominating fashion — similar to the run of form she found in 2023 when she rode the wave all the way to her first Slam.

#first #title #things