Zverev comes through second successive five-set thriller to reach US Open third round

[p]The German star, who had finished a five-set first round battle in the early hours of Wednesday morning, was again forced to go the distance before grinding out a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/halys-q-EDve8Ljh/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/?mid=QcuRK9Y9"]6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3[/a] victory over France's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/halys-quentin/EDve8Ljh/"]Quentin Halys[/a].[/p][p]The 4hr 33 min slugfest was another gruelling outing on the Arthur Ashe Stadium show court for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Zverev[/a], who clinched victory at just after 2.15am local time.[/p][p]The 29-year-old, who has spent nearly 10 hours on court in his opening two matches, will face Chile's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tabilo-alejandro/YgVnM5vO/"]Alejandro Tabilo[/a] in the next round.[/p][p][b]"The performance was quite sh*t to be honest, but I won, that's the most important thing," [/b]Zverev said in an on-court interview afterwards.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="daa72666-ea45-452c-9445-349bb17d5bd5" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="cc6be394-bdba-4d4d-8aa1-9ee7834c29b5" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]"Another four-and-a-half hours, 2:15 am, that's what I go to the gym for,"[/b] he added, before thanking die-hard fans who remained in the stadium for the end of the match.[/p][p][b]"The couple thousand people (who stayed) made up for the 15,000 that left," [/b]he said.[/p][p]Zverev had looked in complete control against Halys early on, seizing the only break of the first set to go 5-4 before holding to claim the opening frame.[/p][p]The second set appeared to be following a similar pattern when Zverev earned the first break point for a chance to take a 5-4 lead again.[/p][p]This time, though, Halys rallied and recovered to hold, leaving Zverev needing to hold to keep the set alive.[/p][p][b]Yet Zverev's composed service game suddenly looked vulnerable and a double fault gave Halys two set points at 15-40 which the Frenchman pounced on to knot it at one set apiece.[/b][/p][p]Zverev recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to level at 4-4.[/p][embed guid="fd0c71b4-f22e-4dab-9bb4-f63881a3b229" url="https://x.com/OptaAce/status/2095747070401659096" social-type="twitter" /][p]Halys saved three break points to edge into a 5-4 lead and the rest of the set went on serve until the tiebreak, where Zverev was soon in charge, sprinting into a 5-1 lead before taking the set.[/p][p]Yet it was a different story when the fourth set ended in a tiebreak, with Halys dominating Zverev to level the match and take send it to a decider.[/p][p][b]With tension mounting, it was Halys who blinked first in the fifth set, slashing a forehand well wide to set up a crucial break for Zverev.[/b][/p][p]The German held twice to take a 5-3 lead and then broke a weary Halys to clinch victory.[/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]