French showman Gael Monfils celebrated his 40th birthday with a 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-0 win over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo to reach the second round of the US Open, keeping his farewell Grand Slam campaign alive.
A day after fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka played the final Grand Slam match of his career, Monfils showed he was not ready to follow him out the door yet, drawing huge applause from fans on Louis Armstrong Stadium as he fought back from a slow start.
Monfils also became the oldest player to win a main-draw singles match at Flushing Meadows since Jimmy Connors defeated Jaime Oncins on his 40th birthday in 1992.
There was no cake on court, but Monfils received a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ midway through his speech.
“That was very special. Playing on my 40th birthday … you guys made it incredible,” Monfils said.
“You guys made it electric, the atmosphere was unbelievable. I tried to put on a great show for you.”
It was a real slog for Alexander Zverev
Top seed Alexander Zverev survived a huge scare 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.
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 a double fault from Zverev handed Sonego the opening he needed to move ahead 2-1.
After the pair traded breaks in the fourth, Zverev found himself two points away from defeat before securing a crucial hold and breaking serve to force a deciding set.
Zverev completed the turnaround as Sonego ran out of steam, the German happy to avoid becoming the first top seed to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 at Wimbledon.
Zverev will next face Frenchman Quentin Halys.
Taylor Fritz got through in straight sets
American Taylor Fritz harnessed his mighty serve to roll into the second round, beating compatriot Darwin Blanch 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the second match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A finalist in 2024, Fritz looked right at home in New York against the 18-year-old wildcard, hitting 14 aces to set up a meeting with either Mattia Bellucci of Italy or Hungarian Zsombor Piros.
“It’s never easy to come out and play another young American,” said Fritz, who had a withering appraisal of his own return game.
“He gave me a lot of opportunities with some doubles, with some second serves.”
Elsewhere, Arthur Fery’s hopes of making a splash on his US Open debut were ended in the first round after a straight-sets defeat by Lorenzo Musetti.
The 24-year-old had been riding on the crest of a wave since his historic run to the Wimbledon semi-finals as a wild card earlier this summer.
Fery reached his first ATP final in North Carolina last week and arrived in New York with high hopes of another deep run at a grand slam.
But he ran aground against Italian 13th seed Musetti in a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 7-5 loss on Grandstand Stadium.
Fifth seed Flavio Cobolli needed five sets to see off Argentinian Francisco Comesana.
Additional reporting: PA