He could be a whole lot heavier than Alexander Zverev.
The US Open top seed avoided a historic first-round upset on Tuesday, holding off Italian challenger Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (9-7), 7-5, 6-4 in a late-night, five-hour match at Flushing Meadows. He will face Quentin Halys in the second round.
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Time the match ended: 1:55 am local time.
If Zverev lost, it would be the sixth time in the Open Era that a No. 1 seed in the first round and fell for the first time in more than two decades. Current list: 1971 US Open (John Newcombe), 1990 French Open (Stefan Edberg), 1990 US Open (Edberg), 2002 Australian Open (Lleyton Hewitt) and 2003 Wimbledon (Hewitt).
It was a relatively straightforward first start, with Zverev showing the form that saw him win Roland-Garros and reach the Wimbledon final this summer. The big one will serve first. The second Great Servant. A firm and methodical approach. It is a difficult combination to win, and Sonego responded with more dangerous shots and more trips to the net.
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Sonego was redlining: showcasing a higher tolerance for risk against elite adversaries because conventional strategy has little hope of success. If it works, you have a match. If not, you lose a little more.
For 2 1/2 sets, they worked. Some gradually lowered the line. Some trips to the net resulted in the ball being impossible to play. But the victors sprung up with inert errors for three, and that was almost enough.
There were plenty of pranks along the way, with Zverev not infrequently enjoying being pulled in the middle of the match.
That entry saw Sonego just two points away from winning the match in four places with Zverev serving, but the physical toll of the entire court game began to take its toll. Zverev held serve, then Sonego immediately broke to take control and decided to serve.
The first morning of the fifth parish gave Zverev a comfortable ride to safety.
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The numbers will not encourage Zverev, who converted just 5-of-22 points and committed nearly as many unforced errors (39) as Sonego (43). For that reason, he gave his first exits in Toronto and Cincinnati in the two previous tournaments.
It was already shaping up to be a chaotic US Open. Jannik Sinner left the tournament. Novak Djokovic went down in similarly nasty form on Sunday. We don’t know if Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist and body are ready for the seven-match, five-day tournament after 4½ months.
Outside of Alcaraz and Zverev, the only other player in the entire field left with a Grand Slam title is Daniil Medvedev.
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His circuit is similar to the one in which Zverev won his Roland-Garros title earlier this year. Again, he stands to benefit, especially with Alcaraz on the other side of the bracket. If anyone is a judge on Tuesday, it won’t be as simple as in Paris.