Zverev wins at 2:15 a.m. after another five-set US Open battle

Most people in New York were asleep. Alexander Zverev was still trying to finish his second-round match.

At about 2:15 a.m. local time on Friday, September 4, he finally did it. The US Open's top seed beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3 after four hours and 33 minutes. In India, the finish came at about 11:45 a.m. Friday. AFP reported the result and finish time.

That is a long shift for a match that only gets you into round three. And Zverev had already needed five sets to beat Lorenzo Sonego in his opening match, as Reuters reported. Reuters' match report.

How close was it?

The score tells a story of a match that refused to settle down. Zverev took the first set. Halys took the second. The next two sets both needed tie-breaks, with each player winning one. After all that work, they were back level at two sets each.

For anyone new to tennis, this is the key: in men's Grand Slam singles, a player must win three sets. Winning two does not finish the job. Halys taking the fourth therefore forced a fifth and final set, where Zverev eventually created enough separation to win.

The tournament's own report confirmed the five-set score from the Arthur Ashe Stadium contest. This was not a quick favourite-versus-outsider result dressed up as drama; the result really did stay open deep into the night. The US Open's official match report.

A win, with plenty to think about

Zverev did not pretend he had played a perfect match. Reuters quoted him saying, “I hope at some point I'll start playing better”. He also pointed to the training that prepares him to survive difficult moments.

That is the interesting tension here. The result shows he can get through a demanding contest. It also shows opponents are making him work much harder than a top seed might hope during the opening rounds.

AFP's account described momentum swings rather than one player simply staying in control. Zverev lost his grip on the second set, then recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the third. Getting out of those situations helped him survive, but Halys kept finding ways to extend the match.

The clock becomes part of the story

Spanish news agency EFE calculated that Zverev had spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court across his first two matches. It also placed him at world number two and Halys at number 52, showing the ranking gap that the Frenchman made look much smaller on the night. EFE's September 4 report.

Those hours do not tell us how Zverev will perform next. They do explain why recovery becomes such an obvious talking point. A tournament is a sequence of matches: winning tonight earns another contest, rather than a long break with the job complete.

It would be too strong to say he is now exhausted or heading for defeat. Neither conclusion follows automatically from a long match. The fairer reading is that he has already had to use considerable time and effort just to remain in the draw.

The date can also look confusing across reports. This was the Thursday night session in New York, but play ended after midnight on Friday. Both descriptions refer to the same match, not separate wins.

What comes next?

AFP identified Chile's Alejandro Tabilo as Zverev's next opponent. That meeting will provide a clearer answer to the question left by this late-night escape: can the top seed turn survival into a more controlled performance?

For now, the essential result is simple. Halys pushed him all the way. Zverev found the final set he needed. The tournament moves on, and so does he.