NEW YORK: By the end of their US Open, four-hour 41-minute match which finished about 1.40 am local time, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner looked like they might've been engaged in a water polo duel rather than a tennis match. Drenched in sweat.
Zverev's 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory put him in the quarterfinals where he'll face the world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in the last-eight.
The fourth-round encounter had it all -a dog fight in blistering conditions, heat and extreme humidity.
The 22-year-old Italian was struggling with cramps in both legs during the second set and by midway through the third his condition worsened. Zverev approached his opponent to check on him. Sinner, doubled over against his chair, said, he'd fight on.
The 26-year-old, who is coming back from an ankle injury that cost him most of last season, complained against a xenophobic spectator. "He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in the world," Zverev said, adding, "it's unacceptable."
The match was paused briefly, and the spectator was evicted. The men in the middle, however, weren't distracted by the scenes around them, and when Zverev broke the sixth-seeded Sinner in the second game of the fifth set, the German had finally taken control.
"I guess I can say I'm back, right? This is what I live for, this is what I absolutely love to do," said Zverev. "I wish I could have played a little bit shorter, that's for sure, but last year when I wasn't able to play, these were exactly the moments I missed. Until 1:30 a.m. in front of a packed crowd. There's nothing better."
