Top seed Alexander Zverev survives near five-hour marathon at US Open

• German scrapes home 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 in thriller

• ‘I think this is the longest first-round match I’ve played’

Alexander Zverev rallied just in time to avoid becoming the first men’s No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of a grand slam tournament since 2003, edging Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 in a US Open match that ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Zverev couldn’t cash in on repeated chances to break Sonego’s serve for much of the night and was in danger of becoming the first top-seeded man to fall in his first match in a major since Ivo Karlovic beat Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003.