“I’m happy to be through in three sets because I think the weather and conditions were obviously very difficult today. Very hot, very humid,” Zverev said.
“The less time I spend on the court, the better it is.”
American Madison Keys was equally relieved to cruise past Australian qualifier Maya Joint 6-4 6-0 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Steamy conditions tested players’ resolve at the U.S. Open on Wednesday but defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff both advanced to the third round, while Aryna Sabalenka marked her win by taking photographs with a mini version of herself.
Sweat-soaked 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic looked far from comfortable under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium and had to battle from 2-4 in the second set before seeing off fellow Serb Laslo Djere, who retired injured at 6-4 6-4 2-0.
“It’s not what we want. It’s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover,” Djokovic said.
“But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level. He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should have been his second set.
“Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets. I served awful. Playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I guess I had to rely on my baseline game
