Zverev closes out Open first round in a sprint

Alexander Zverev closed out first-round play at the US Open in a sprint finish, taking barely two hours to defeat Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-4 to reach the second round for the ninth time in 10 starts here.

The German third seed who played the New York final five years ago, turned in a workmanlike performance 

“It wasn’t great at times to be very honest, but you know, I’m through, I won in straight sets, that’s the most important thing. There’s a lot to build still, there’s a lot to improve.”

The night-time wrapup buried memories of a first-round Wimbledon loss last month for Zverev, who suffered with heat exhaustion in his last event at Cincinnati, where he still managed to reach the final four while also complaining of mental stress.

 He will bid for the third round against Brit Jacob Fearnley, a winner over Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. 

Zverev, who flirted with the title here five years ago but fell short by two points against Dominic Thiem, also played Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros last season and the Australian Open  in January.

“It’s about winning the last point in those [finals] for me. I’m very hopeful I can do that this year,” the 28-year-old said. 

American 14th seed Tommy Paul showed no signs of recent foot injury problems in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 sweep of Dane Elmer Moller

“I was just happy to be feeling good out there,’’ Paul said. “I’m feeling great. “I have some things to clean up with my game, but I’m very, very excited.”

Gael Monfils, on the cusp of turning 39, lost in an opening match here for the first time since 2015, with No. 94 Roman Safiullin profitting in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 marathon.

French showman Monfils had been hoping to become the men’s singles match winner here Jimmy Connors won in 1992 aged 40.

Monfils, who reached the New York final four in 2016, was playing the event for a 17th time, second only to the 19 appearances of Novak Djokovic.

Despite heavy crowd support for Monfils, outsider Safiullin eventually prevailed after two and three-quarter hours with 33 winners to 37 unforced errors and now plays Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-4 winner over British lucky loser Billy Harris.

In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff got away to a winning start, as the 2023 tournament champion needed almost three hours to beat Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.

The American who has been having serious problems with her serve and brought in a specialist coach to try and cure the problem, still double-faulted 10 times in victory.

“It was a tough match, I had chances for straight sets, but Ajla was tough,” Gauff said.

“She was getting so many balls back and I was trying to push her back; it wasn’t the best, but I’m happy to get through to the next round.”

Tomljanovic ended with a massive 56 unforced errors to a mere 12 winners; Gauff was only slightly better with 29 winners and 59 errors in the night session.

Gauff said trying to fix here serve with a major fast approaching was the definition of stress.

“Honestly, mentally exhausting, but I’m trying. It wasn’t the best today, but at 30-all [in the final game], it came in when it mattered. It’s improved from last week in Cincy, and I’m just trying to improve with each match.”

Gauff now owns 36 match wins this season against a dozen defeats; the reigning Roland Garros winner lost in the Wimbledon first round as her serving problems cropped up over the summer.