Zverev holds off Etcheverry, Ruud rallies past Shang in New York

Alexander Zverev was given a high-powered test by Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Friday night at the US Open. Despite some early struggles, the fourth seed dialled in to notch his 100th Grand Slam match win.

Zverev prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 on Louis Armstrong Stadium to reach the fourth round for his fifth consecutive appearance in New York (2019-21, 2022-23). The German had trailed by a set and a break at 5-7, 2-4 but from there he broke Etcheverry’s serve seven times to complete a three-hour, 36-minute win.

R4 🔒 @AlexZverev gets past Etcheverry 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-3.@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/l2TWwddqba

With a 100-34 Grand Slam record, Zverev is the first man born in 1990 or later to hit the 100-win milestone at the majors. The 27-year-old, who has won a Tour-leading 55 matches in 2024, reached one of his two Grand Slam finals in New York in 2020. His other major championship-match appearance came at Roland Garros earlier this year.

Zverev will take on a home favourite next in New York in Brandon Nakashima. The 23-year-old upset 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time. Zverev leads Nakashima 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including a second-round win during his 2020 New York final run.

Another Top 10 star, Casper Ruud, also had to dig deep to advance on Friday. The No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings rallied from two sets down to defeat #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng 6-7(1), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. 6-1.

Ruud broke his 19-year-old opponent’s serve seven times across the third, fourth and fifth sets for a three-hour, 44-minute triumph. With his win, the Norwegian reached the fourth round for just the second time in seven US Open appearances. On the previous occasion he progressed that far in 2022, Ruud went on to contest the championship match.

Next up for Ruud is a meeting with the No. 1 American in the PIF ATP Rankings, Taylor Fritz, who breezed past Francisco Comesana 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. It will be a second Grand Slam fourth-round meeting of the year for the pair, after Ruud triumphed in four sets at Roland Garros in June.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]