Alexander Zverev, the No. 1 men's seed at the 2026 U.S. Open, dropped the third set to Lorenzo Sonego in a tiebreak to fall behind two sets to one. The German won the first set 6-4 before Sonego took the second 6-3, and the tiebreak in the third set went Sonego's way after both players squandered set points.
The tiebreak swung back and forth. Sonego kept himself alive with a smash to dismiss one set point, then served an ace to earn a set point of his own. Zverev ended the set with a double fault, handing Sonego the third set and a two-sets-to-one lead.
The match entered a fourth set. Zverev reached break point three times in Sonego's opening service game and converted none of them. On the first of three break points, he pushed his return wide. A mishit into the net followed on double break point. Then Sonego ended the third chance with an ace and closed out the game with another.
Zverev eventually broke through after working his way to a fourth break point opportunity in a later game, converting with a backhand cross-court winner. By that point, he had converted just three of 15 break points across the match—a conversion rate that keeps a comeback alive but requires near-perfect execution down the stretch.
Sonego entered as an Italian outsider without a seed, and his energy on Arthur Ashe has been a factor throughout. He has matched Zverev's power from the baseline and has not been rattled by the occasion.
Rain delayed play on the outer courts at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, compressing the schedule and pushing several matches into the night. Arthur Ashe, covered by its retractable roof, kept running through the delay.
Elsewhere on Day 3: Taylor Fritz, seeded ninth in the men's draw, advanced, as did women's seeds Elena Rybakina (2), Mirra Andreeva (5) and Madison Keys (22). Twelfth-seeded Belinda Bencic lost in three sets in an upset on the women's side. Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff opened the night session with a straight-sets victory. Alexandra Eala, seeded 17th and just 21 years old, won a late match on Louis Armstrong Stadium to move into the second round. Gaël Monfils also won late on Louis Armstrong.
For Zverev, this match arrives after a summer that has exposed real vulnerabilities. He lost at the Canadian Open in Montreal as the top seed. He fell to Tommy Paul, the 18th seed, at the Cincinnati Open in the fourth round—a match where Paul saved a match point in the second set before winning the final two sets. At Wimbledon, Zverev fell to Jannik Sinner in four sets, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The pattern is consistent: Zverev enters big events as the top name on the draw sheet and finds ways to make the path harder than it needs to be. The U.S. Open is his best chance at a first Grand Slam title, and the hard court suits his game. But losing a tiebreak to an unseeded Italian and converting three of 15 break points through three sets is not a recipe for going deep into the second week.
Sonego has played without hesitation. Facing a No. 1 seed on the biggest court in tennis, he has served big at critical moments, moved well and taken the tiebreak when it mattered most. Whether Zverev's fourth-set break is the turning point depends on what he produces from here.
