Alexander Zverev avoided an early exit from the US Open men’s singles draw on Friday, needing the full five sets to advance into the third round at Flushing Meadows as a wave of upset results reshaped the bracket in New York. The German, a former world number two and Grand Slam finalist, was pushed to the limit in his second-round match before finally breaking through against an opponent whose name and the final set score were not detailed in the available reporting.
The result spared Zverev the kind of second-round collapse that has derailed several higher-ranked opponents across the opening days of the tournament. By the end of Friday’s play, at least three seeded men’s players had already been knocked out of the tournament, underscoring the depth and unpredictability of this year’s men’s field in the opening rounds.
What happened
Zverev’s path into the third round came only after he was taken the distance in a five-set contest. The longer match length raised immediate questions about his physical condition heading into the business end of the tournament, where best-of-five survival becomes increasingly demanding on players who log heavy hours in the early rounds. The grueling win, however, also confirmed that the German remains a serious threat in the men’s draw despite a season that has included injury disruptions and fluctuating form.
The bigger story on Friday, however, was the rapid thinning of seeded opposition. Third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, a former top-ten player and ATP title winner, was eliminated in his second-round match, ending his campaign at Flushing Meadows earlier than expected. Australian Alex de Minaur, seeded sixth, also failed to advance, falling in the same round. Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the 13th seed, was similarly knocked out in his second-round encounter.
The trio of exits, coming from the upper and middle tiers of the seeded draw, has injected considerable volatility into the men’s bracket heading into the third round. Several players who had been expected to reach the second week in New York are now absent, opening space for unseeded or lower-ranked opponents to advance deeper than projected.
Why it matters
The men’s draw at Grand Slams is typically dominated by a small group of elite players who routinely navigate the early rounds without dropping sets, let alone matches. When three seeded players fall before the third round at a hardcourt major, it signals either a particularly unsettled playing field or a generational shift among the tour’s middle tier. Either reading carries consequences for the rest of the tournament.
For Zverev specifically, surviving a five-setter against an unheralded opponent is a double-edged outcome. On one hand, the win keeps his path to a potential deep run alive and maintains his status as one of the leading contenders in New York. On the other, the physical cost of going five sets in the second round is rarely recovered from later in a Grand Slam, particularly in New York, where the late-summer heat and humidity at Flushing Meadows tend to punish players with heavy early-round workloads.
The seeded exits also reorder the betting and tactical landscape. With Auger-Aliassime, de Minaur, and Musetti gone, the draw opens for lower-ranked players to claim breakout victories, which in turn can lift the profile of emerging names and reshape the tour’s hierarchy in the second half of the season.
Background and context
Zverev arrived at this US Open as a former world number two and the holder of multiple Masters 1000 titles. He has reached the final of a Grand Slam before, finishing as runner-up at the 2024 French Open, and has consistently featured among the top seeds at majors in recent seasons. His career has been marked by both elite-level shot-making and well-documented injury setbacks, including a serious ankle ligament injury that sidelined him for the second half of the 2022 season.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded third in New York, has long been considered one of the most talented players of his generation. The Canadian broke through with multiple Masters 1000 finals earlier in his career and has held a place inside the world’s top ten, though Grand Slam results have historically been a more uneven part of his resume. A second-round exit at the US Open represents one of his earliest major losses in recent memory and will prompt questions about his current form heading into the indoor season.
Alex de Minaur, the sixth seed, has built his reputation on speed, defensive range, and consistency, qualities that have translated into deep runs at hardcourt events. His early exit at Flushing Meadows is a notable setback for a player whose game is designed for the surface conditions on offer in New York.
Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 13th, has emerged over recent seasons as one of the tour’s more technically gifted shot-makers, with a one-handed backhand that has drawn frequent comparison to retired champions. His early loss adds to a season in which he has struggled to consistently convert talent into deep major runs.
The wave of upsets in the men’s draw stands in contrast to a women’s field at this US Open that, by the conclusion of the second round, had seen its top seeds hold more reliably, though that picture could shift as the tournament progresses.
Analysis: The combined losses of a third, a sixth, and a 13th seed in the same round is statistically significant even before considering the broader pattern of early-round upsets elsewhere in the bracket. For Zverev, the immediate question is recovery and rotation of legs; for the three departed seeds, the conversation turns to scheduling, form, and whether the 2026 hardcourt swing has exposed gaps that need addressing before the indoor season.
What to watch next
The third round at Flushing Meadows will clarify whether Zverev can convert his five-set escape into a deeper run, or whether the physical toll of Friday’s match carries into the next encounter. His opponent in the third round, and the condition of his movement and serving efficiency, will be the most direct indicators of his title chances.
Attention will also fall on the players now occupying the vacated slots in the draw. With Auger-Aliassime, de Minaur, and Musetti gone, lower-ranked or unseeded opponents have an opportunity to reach the second week of a Grand Slam, a result that can meaningfully alter a player’s season-long ranking and confidence trajectory.
The wider men’s draw will continue to sort itself out across the weekend, with the third and fourth rounds expected to thin the field further. The number of seeds still standing by the conclusion of the fourth round will be the clearest measure of how genuinely unsettled this tournament has become.
Conclusion
Zverev’s five-set survival kept his name in the conversation for the US Open title, but the more lasting story from Friday at Flushing Meadows was the rapid erosion of the seeded ranks around him. With Auger-Aliassime, de Minaur, and Musetti all sent home in the second round, the men’s bracket has opened in a way that rewards momentum and punishes the slightest dip in form. Whether that volatility ultimately benefits Zverev, or exposes him to fresher legs and less fatigued opponents later in the tournament, will define the second week of this US Open.
Analysis: Across the men’s draw, the early-round turbulence has reset expectations heading into the business end of the tournament. Zverev’s path is now both more open and more treacherous, a combination that typically rewards players who can conserve energy early and peak late. The third round will be the first real test of whether Friday’s escape was a warning sign or a launchpad.
Sources
Al Jazeera News – https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/4/zverev-goes-distance-to-scrape-into-third-round-as-upsets-rock-us-open?traffic_source=rss
Source: Al Jazeera News
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Story synopsis gathered from: Al Jazeera News — source
