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Alexander Zverev insists that he’ll “fight to the last moment” against Carlos Alcaraz after the German reached the quarter-finals of the US Open. The 26-year-old had to dig deep to beat sixth seed Jannik Sinner in a five-set marathon 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. At four hours and 41 minutes, it was the longest match so far at the Grand Slam, finishing beyond 1.30am New York time.
The reward for Zverev, who is still fighting his way back from a horrific injury at last year’s French Open that kept him out of action for eight months, is a quarter-final date with current world No 1 Alcaraz on Wednesday.
Speaking on the court after his lung-busting victory, the 12th seed was asked about the prospect of facing the Spaniard next.
Zverev said: “I’m here to play. That’s what I love doing. I don’t know how it’ll end up but I’ll give it my absolute best like I always do. I’ll fight til the last moment. Of course, I have to recover after this physical match, but I’ll be ready.”
The world No 12 has now reached his 10th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career but is yet to win a major title, or figure in a Grand Slam final.
But his deep run at Flushing Meadows is reward for the long road he has had to take just to get himself back on the court after the misery of Roland Garros.
Zverev said: “I guess I can say I’m back. This is exactly what I live for. This is what I love to do. Playing at 1.30am, in front of a packed crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. It doesn’t get any better. This is one of the best moments of my career.”
Victory over Sinner was significant for Zverev as it was only his second win against a top 10 player at a Grand Slam in 15 attempts.
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But on this occasion, he was able to hit 16 aces – four more than Sinner – and landed 56 winners compared to the Italians 50. Zverev also kept his unforced error count down to 46 which was lower than Sinner’s 67.
But if this gruelling contest wasn’t difficult enough, the German will now have to somehow find the energy to take on Alacaraz amid the white-hot atmosphere of the Arthur Ashe Stadium for a place in the semi-finals.
The top seed made light work of Matteo Arnaldi on Monday, cruising to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 straight sets victory.
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