Pakistan, Sept. 3 -- Alexander Zverev has the No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time and the belief that comes from finally winning a major title.

Then he nearly had a quick exit from the U.S. Open.

The French Open champion rallied just in time to edge Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 in a match that lasted 4 hours, 52 minutes and ended early Wednesday morning. Two nights after No. 4 seed and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic was eliminated with a five-set loss, Zverev nearly became another top player ousted from an event that top-ranked Jannik Sinner had to miss because of a right knee injury. That moved the No. 2-ranked Zverev up to the No. 1 seed in the U.S. Open, and if he had lost he would have ...