Top seed Zverev avoids upset in five-set thriller

NEW YORK, Sept 1 : Top seed Alexander Zverev survived a huge scare at the U.S. Open after overcoming Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-5 6-4 in a first-round thriller that lasted almost five hours and stretched into the early hours of Wednesday.Zverev arrived in New York as a major champion for the first time after his French Open triumph in June and is widely seen as the man to beat with world number one Jannik Sinner absent and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recently returning from injury.Zverev converted only one of seven break-point opportunities in winning the opening set before world number 89 Sonego responded in the second, breaking early and shifting the momentum before serving out to love and sealing the set with an ace.A back-and-forth third set went to a tiebreak, where