Zverev draws confidence from five-hour US Open first-round battle

NEW YORK: Top seed Alexander Zverev said his nearly five-hour, five-set escape against Lorenzo Sonego in the first round was just what he needed to warm up for his US Open title tilt.

But the German will surely be hoping for an easier ride against 52nd-ranked Frenchman Quentin Halys in the second round on Thursday.

French Open champion Zverev again headlines the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where two-time champion Naomi Osaka and American contenders Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz are also in action.

French veteran Gael Monfils, fresh off a first-round victory on his 40th birthday, will try to keep his final Grand Slam campaign going against American Learner Tien, while Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who can seize Aryna Sabalenka's world No. 1 ranking with a run to the semi-finals, faces Spain's Jessica Bouzas.

Zverev laboured for four hours and 53 minutes to subdue Sonego in a wild five-setter that lasted until nearly 2am. He said there was "definitely room for improvement", but he did not begrudge the effort.

After capturing his long-awaited first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and reaching the final at Wimbledon, the German has struggled on the hard courts of North America.

The protracted tussle with Sonego, which ended with Zverev's seventh victory in seven matches against the Italian, was a valuable test, he said.

"Overall, I think it was a great, tough battle, and I think it was a match that I needed after the last couple of weeks."

Halys, who won his first career title in Kitzbühel in July, is also battle-tested. He beat Facundo Diaz Acosta in four sets to claim his first US Open first-round victory in five main-draw appearances.

Gauff, whose two Grand Slam titles include her maiden major at the US Open, looked in fine form in a brisk first-round victory, but the 23-year-old American has history with former world No. 2 Paula Badosa, now ranked 87th.

Badosa's 5-3 record against Gauff includes a victory in Berlin this year, part of a resurgent summer for the 28-year-old Spaniard.

Badosa will be operating on short rest after her first-round match against Daria Kasatkina was halted twice by rain on Tuesday, forcing her to return and finish it on Wednesday.

She had two match points that she could not convert before play was suspended and then let slip five more when the match resumed on Wednesday before eventually sealing the victory.

"We always say that tennis is mental, but this, I think, was another level of mental," Badosa said of the agonising night she endured after failing to get over the line on Tuesday.

Gael Monfils, who is heading into retirement after this season, celebrated his 40th birthday with a first-round victory over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo on Tuesday in front of an adoring New York crowd.

Now the French showman will try to extend the final Grand Slam campaign of his career against 20-year-old American Learner Tien, who won his second career title in Geneva in May.

Monfils will be out to avenge his loss to Tien last month at the Cincinnati Masters, where the American reached the semi-finals.

The crowd could be torn at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Tien may be among the crop of American men aiming to end their 23-year Grand Slam title drought, but Monfils is a fan favourite in Flushing Meadows, where he has been delighting crowds for most of Tien's lifetime.