Alexander Zverev has reached the quarterfinals at the US Open for the third time in a row in a tennis thriller.

The Olympic champion prevailed after 4:41 hours 6:4, 3:6, 6:2, 4:6, 6:3 against the slightly favored Italian Jannik Sinner. Zverev now meets defending champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.

The 26-year-old from Hamburg and his opponent, who was four years younger, were plagued by physical problems during the gripping match, starting with 27 degrees and high humidity. In the middle of the fourth sentence, Zverev reported to the referee that a spectator had said the “most famous Hitler sentence”. The man was then escorted from the stands by security forces.

For Zverev it is the tenth quarterfinal participation in a Grand Slam tournament, so he drew level with Michael Stich. Only Boris Becker (23) managed to do this more often in the professional era for men as a German tennis player.