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Zverev Opens U.S. Open Campaign Against Sonego, Aiming for Another Deep Run
Alexander Zverev, fresh off his first Grand Slam title at the 2026 French Open, begins his S. Open journey against Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday night. Zverev is the No. 1 seed and heavy favorite, with a 6-0 career record over Sonego, who has never advanced past the second round in New York.
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Zverev Opens S. Open Campaign Against Sonego, Aiming for Another Deep Run
Alexander Zverev, the No. 1-ranked player in the men's field at the 2026 S. Open, begins his tournament on Tuesday night against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego. The 29-year-old German is less than three months removed from winning the French Open, the first major victory of his career. He also reached the final at Wimbledon this year, making him one of the most in-form players on tour.
Zverev's personal life has also been in the spotlight. His girlfriend, Sophia Thomalla, took an immediate flight from Cologne, Germany, to France to celebrate with him on the night of his French Open victory. Thomalla was not in France earlier because she was hosting a reality TV dating show called "Are You The One?" She has since wrapped filming and posted photos on Instagram of her exploring New York with Zverev over the weekend, suggesting she will be in the crowd for his opening match. The couple have been dating since 2020, and Thomalla has been a mainstay at most of his biggest tournaments. They do not have children together, but they are parents to two dachshunds, one of whom was bought right after Zverev won the French Open.
Match Preview and Odds
Zverev and Sonego have met six times before, with Zverev holding a perfect 6-0 record, including two wins in 2025 and two in 2024. They have never faced each other in a Grand Slam. Zverev has made quick work of Sonego in four of those six meetings, dropping only two sets against him all time.
Sonego, 31, has one career quarterfinal appearance at a Grand Slam and has never made it past the second round at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He has lost in the first round at the S. Open five out of eight times and has not advanced out of the first round in back-to-back years. In 2026, Sonego had two second-round exits and one third-round exit in the first three Grand Slams.
Zverev, who was knocked out in the third round of last year's S. Open, has a strong history at Flushing Meadows. He was the runner-up in 2020, a semifinalist in 2021 and a quarterfinalist in 2023 and 2024. He has won 15 career titles on hard courts and has a 17-7 record on hard courts this year. Despite his recent success, Zverev is No. 2 in the odds to win the tournament, behind Carlos Alcaraz.
How to Watch and Betting Lines
The match is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 m. EST and will be televised on ESPN. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Zverev is a heavy favorite at -2400 on the moneyline, while Sonego is +970. The total is set at 33.5 games, with the over listed at -125 and the under at -120.
Given Zverev's dominance over Sonego and his strong form, the prediction is for Zverev to win in straight sets, which is available at -150 at DraftKings.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: Highlights Thomalla sharing a beach look before the US Open, centering her appearance and proximity to Zverev's match. — light and celebratory
Facts Included:
Alexander Zverev is feeling the love heading into his first 2026 US Open match.
The 29-year-old Zverev is less than three months removed from winning the French Open — the first major victory of his career.
His girlfriend, Sophia Thomalla, took an immediate flight from Cologne, Germany, to France to celebrate with Zverev on the night of his victory.
Thomalla wasn’t in France because she was busy hosting a reality TV dating show called, “Are You The One?”
Thomalla posted a clip of her speaking about the project on Instagram, where she was rocking a baby-blue outfit on the beach.
She has actually wrapped filming for the show and posted several photos of her exploring the Big Apple with Zverev over the weekend.
It’s safe to assume she’ll be a spectator in the crowd when he faces Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the US Open Tuesday evening.
Thomalla and Zverev have been dating since 2020, and she has been a mainstay at most of his biggest tournaments.
They don’t have any children together (Zverev has a daughter from a previous relationship), but they are parents to two dachshunds, one of whom was bought right after Zverev won the French Open.
Tennis fans are keen to see whether Zverev’s French Open win will spark the necessary confidence for another deep run at the US Open.
Framing: The headline focuses on the match between Alexander Zverev and Lorenzo Sonego, presenting it as a prediction and odds preview for the U.S. Open first round. — Analytical and confident, with a clear endorsement of Zverev winning in straight sets.
Facts Included:
Alexander Zverev is the No. 1-ranked player in the men's field at the 2026 U.S. Open.
Zverev won the 2026 French Open and made the final at Wimbledon.
Zverev has a 6-0 career record against Lorenzo Sonego, winning two matches in 2025 and two in 2024.
Zverev and Sonego have never faced each other in a Grand Slam.
Zverev was runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2020, semifinalist in 2021, and quarterfinalist in 2023 and 2024.
Zverev has won 15 career titles on hard courts.
Zverev is No. 2 in the odds to win the tournament, behind Carlos Alcaraz.
Sonego has lost in the first round at the U.S. Open five out of eight times.
In 2026, Sonego had two second-round exits and one third-round exit in the first three Grand Slams.
Sonego has never made it past the second round at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Sonego has won just two total sets against Zverev in their six career matches.
Zverev has a 17-7 record on hard courts this year.
The match is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. EST and will be televised on ESPN.
The moneyline odds are Zverev -2400 and Sonego +970.
The total is 5 (Over -125, Under -120).
The pick is Zverev to win in straight sets (-150 at DraftKings).
Gambling problem help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimAlexander Zverev is the No. 1-ranked player in the men's field at the 2026 U.S. Open.
ClaimAlexander Zverev's girlfriend, Sophia Thomalla, took an immediate flight from Cologne, Germany, to France to celebrate with Zverev on the night of his French Open victory.