Zverev, who started his quest for his second Major with two gruelling five-set wins, cruised past the 21st seed 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, as he has now reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Majors this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The reigning Roland Garros champion seems to be improving with each match now, as he won 86 per cent of his first serves and also dominated the second-serve wins with 72% victory on them. He also broke the Italian four times in the game and faced just one break point in the entirety of the game. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
He took control of the first set and started the game when he broke Darderi before keeping hold of his serves and pocketed the opening set despite facing a break point late in the opener to take an early lead. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
The German kept his foot on the pedal in the second one too as Darderi struggled with his first serve. Zverev took full advantage and started the second with a double break and kept motoring his way on serves as he pocketed the second one too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Darderi showed better fight in the third set as he did not let the German boss it and instead kept holding his serve; however, he could not force the German to drop his serve as things went to the tiebreaker, where Zverev held his composure for a comfortable win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Meanwhile, things were much more intense between van de Zandschulp and Gea as the two unseeded players fought tooth and nail in an intense five-hour and 13-minute battle, which is now the fourth longest match in the US Open on record. But Zandschulp made a strong comeback from two sets down and saved a match point for a 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Gea would be regretting it big time, as he had a match point on his serve at 6\/5 in the third set, but a backhand volley error cost him as the Dutchman clinched the third set as he mounted a strong comeback following his losing the first two sets. Gea was also serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set but was broken as Zandschulp clinched a nail-biter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I have no clue, actually,\" van de Zandschulp said on his comeback. \"It wasn\u2019t going my way in the beginning. I think it was a sloppy match a little bit, but he started to play well at some point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Gea would be regretting it big time, as he had a match point on his serve at 6\/5 in the third set, but a backhand volley error cost him as the Dutchman clinched the third set as he mounted a strong comeback following his losing the first two sets. Gea was also serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set but was broken as Zandschulp clinched a nail-biter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zverev and Zandschulp will now battle in the quarterfinal for a place in the semifinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n