A near feat for Lorenzo Sonego at the US Open against world no.2 and seeding no.1 Alexander Zverev. The blue player plays a beautiful match, but is forced to give up at the end of a real ‘marathon’. The German triumphed in the first round match at the US Open (which ended around 2 am in New York) with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in 4 hours and 52 minutes of play.
Despite the defeat, the Italian farewells Flushing Meadows with his head held high, after going into the fourth set with two points of the match.
“It was a great match, I couldn’t ask for a better match. It was really good for the crowd too.” It was a stars and stripes night without a happy ending (at dawn in Italy), but with many reasons to smile, the one Lorenzo Sonego talks about. It was a Houdini-like night for Zverev, who like an escapologist gets out of an apparently dead-end situation: down two sets to one and 4-5 in the fourth, he turns it around and wins 64 36 67(7) 75 64. It’s a night that belongs to those who love tennis and sport, which gives the tournament a winner in the second round but no defeaters. A night that gives us Lorenzo Sonego in his best version, phosphorus and imagination, quick thinking and a desire for precision. “I’m happy with my performance, with how I played from start to finish and with my attitude – adds the Italian – It was decided by two or three points, maybe I could have done something more there but he is very strong and, in the important moments, he served really well. I can only be satisfied with my tennis and the way I fought.”