Alexander Zverev won the late night battle in New York, ousting Italian Jannick Sinner in a thriller that ended at 1.40am, the German prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
The five-hour marathon on Arthur Ashe Stadium saw 106 winners, 56 of those coming from the German, as he hit 16 aces and won 70 per cent of his first service points.
But it didn’t come without controversy as during the fourth set a spectator had to be removed for shouting ‘Heil Hitler.’
Zverev complained to British umpire James Keothavong after hearing what he described as “the most famous Hitler phrase there is.”
Security locate the man and ejected him from the stadium.
Zverev won the first set before Sinner fought back to level and Zverev then made the most of his opponent’s injury to take the third.
Then Sinner found a new lease of life – at 1am – to win the fourth and force a decider.
For the Italian it was too little too late as Zverev recovered to take out the match and set up a quarter-final clash with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz who earlier had beaten Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets.
“I guess I can say I’m back,” Zverev said after the match.
“This is exactly what I live for. This is what I love to do… playing at 1:30am, in front of a packed crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. It doesn’t get any better. This is one of the best moments of my career.”
