Men’s top seed Alexander Zverev survived — just barely — to advance to the third round at the US Open, but No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Karen Khachanov earlier in the day and became the highest-seeded player knocked out of the tournament thus far.
No. 6 Alex de Minaur losing in straight sets to Botic van de Zandschulp made it four of the top-10 seeded men's players to get eliminated before the third round.
Zverev survived another early scare, but nothing about his second match was easy.
He needed five sets and more than 4 1/2 hours to beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-3 in the nightcap that stretched well into Friday morning.
Taking care of business 😎@usopen | #USOpen | @AlexZverev pic.twitter.com/MwZ9eE98kw
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 4, 2026
Zverev was hoping for an easier time after needing five sets to edge Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday. Instead, he became the first top-seeded man to play back-to-back five-set matches to start a major in the Open Era, which dates to 1968.
Spending more than nine hours on the court through two rounds, Zverev avoided the earliest exit by a No. 1 seed since Andre Agassi in 2000.
Concluding at 2:15 a.m., it is the second-latest second-round finish in US Open history.
