Alexander Zverev avoids more drama during night shift to reach US Open last 16

[p]The German had already spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court in his first two matches -- the most time a top seed has needed to reach the third round of a major since 1999.[/p][p]"[b]My coach was actually quite smart -- he explained to me a best-of-five-set match doesn't mean you have to play five sets[/b]," quipped the French Open champion, who appeared on a mission to end the trend against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tabilo-alejandro/YgVnM5vO/"]Tabilo[/a].[/p][p]Meanwhile, the 25th-seeded Chilean was out to avenge a loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Zverev[/a] in the second round last year on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court.[/p][p]Zverev didn't face a break point in a brutally efficient first set, winning all 11 points behind his first serve and five of seven on his second serve.[/p][p]He broke Tabilo twice on the way to pocketing the set in 38 minutes, and broke him again on the way to a 4-2 lead in the second.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="4de0f338-dbf0-4772-9b86-b527b195ceb8" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e9fa2311-b067-4393-82e8-5fd9ffdfbd14" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]But Tabilo was finding his footing, and the pace slowed as he turned it into a tight back-and-forth battle.[/p][p]He got his first whiff of a chance when he went up 0-30 on Zverev's serve in the sixth game of the second set.[/p][p]The German quickly snuffed out the danger, but Tabilo pulled a break back in the eighth, winning three straight games to take a 5-4 lead.[/p][p]He had Zverev on the ropes in the 10th game, threatening to break to take the set.[/p][p]Zverev saved a pair of set points, then broke Tabilo in the next game, but the Chilean promptly returned the favour to force a tiebreaker that was all Zverev.[/p][p]Undaunted, Tabilo mustered two break points in the opening game of the third set, both denied by Zverev winners.[/p][h2]Big improvement[/h2][p]That was the last chance Tabilo got, with Zverev winning the last four games to take the match after two hours and 26 minutes.[/p][p]"[b]I am definitely happy with the improvements[/b]," Zverev said. "[b]I spent 10 hours on the court in two matches so I had to find my rhythm somehow, and I did. From back of the court I was much better[/b].[/p][p]"[b]I was not happy with the second set[/b]," he added. "[b]I think especially the end of the second set I lost focus a little bit. I was not moving as well. I was not playing as well. But I think the first and third sets are big improvement to the other days[/b]."[/p][embed guid="1f9c7d64-2466-4ba2-9092-72cbcb9f4748" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2096467397754404869" social-type="twitter" /][p]Zverev still found himself thanking fans who stayed until after 1:00 am.[/p][p]Thanks to a titanic tussle between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jovic-iva/bmWvBlnL/"]Iva Jovic[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eala-alexandra/ppu9X7PH/"]Alexandra Eala[/a] in the first night match, Zverev and Tabilo didn't take to the court until nearly 11:00 pm.[/p][p]Zverev will face Italian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/darderi-luciano/jeXTxMIp/"]Luciano Darderi[/a] for a place in the quarter-finals after the 21st seed beat Australian wild card [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sweeny-dane/f7I9IJsH/"]Dane Sweeny[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/darderi-l-jeXTxMIp/sweeny-d-f7I9IJsH/?mid=KS0sKQMb"]6-4, 6-3, 6-3[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/tabilo-a-YgVnM5vO/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/?mid=AFjkJ3lI"]See all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]