NEW YORK -- Top-seeded Alexander Zverev survived another early scare Thursday night to advance to the third round of the US Open, but nothing about his second match was easy.
Zverev needed five sets and more than 4 1/2 hours to beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-3 in the nightcap that stretched well into Friday morning.
Zverev was hoping for an easier time after needing five sets to edge Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday. Instead, he became the first top-seeded man to play back-to-back five-set matches to start a major in the Open Era, which dates to 1968.
Spending more than nine hours on the court through two rounds, Zverev avoided the earliest exit by a No. 1 seed since Andre Agassi in 2000. Concluding at 2:15 a.m., it is the second-latest second-round finish in U.S. Open history.
Not as lucky in their second-round matches were No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who became the highest-seeded player knocked out of the tournament thus far, and No. 6 Alex de Minaur. With their losses, four of the top 10 seeded men's players have been eliminated before the third round.
Auger-Aliassime said he was feeling dizzy and seeing spots and couldn't recover, falling to Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
"Karen is a great player. Look, I cannot beat him or anybody in this draw feeling the way I felt today," Auger-Aliassime said. "If I cannot move, we're not talking about tennis here."
De Minaur lost in straight sets to Botic Van De Zandschulp.
The highest seed to fall so far had been No. 4 Novak Djokovic, who lost in the first round at the U.S. Open for the first time in the 24-time Grand Slam champion's career.
In other men's second-round matches, Taylor Fritz, the 2024 runner-up, eased to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Mattia Bellucci. Fifth-seeded Flavio Cobolli defeated Tristan Schoolkate 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
