Zverev Battles Brooksby To 4:55am In Acapulco, The Latest Finish Ever To A Tennis Match

Jenson Brooksby doesn’t overpower you, he just keeps tracking balls and getting them back, and that’s what he did last night against Alexander Zverev at the ATP event in Acapulco. But it was the German coming through from a set down in 3 hours, 18 minutes 3-6, 7-6(10), 6-2 in a match that ended at 4:55am, making it the latest finish ever to a pro tennis match.

“Right now I’m happy that I won,” he added. “I don’t know how Jenson feels, but it must be difficult. I’m happy to be a part of history. It was an incredible battle, I think it was an incredible match, and hopefully many more to come from me this week.

“Acapulco is always special to me. The crowd is always special. It’s always super loud here, the energy is unbelievable. At 5am the stadium is still quite full. There’s nowhere else in the world where the people appreciate tennis the way they do here.”

With both earlier matches running long — John Isner defeated Fernando Verdasco in a final set breaker, and then Stefan Kozlov ousted Grigor Dimitrov in three — Zverev and Brooksby didn’t start until 1:37am local time.

Like he did against Novak Djokovic at the US Open last fall, Brooksby was able to grab the opening set.

The defending champion Zverev decided to dig in as well, matching the 21-year-old American stroke-for-stroke.

An epic 1 hour, 51 minutes second set (one of the longest sets of tennis ever), ended break-free and in a breaker in which Zverev saved two match points eventually taking it 12-10.

SCENES!

The moment @AlexZverev sealed an incredible 111-minute second set with Brooksby to force a decider at 4.08am in Acapulco! pic.twitter.com/g62ub5jY25

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 22, 2022

Zverev was able to finally break Brooksby and another break sealed the win.

“Today I didn’t play my best, there’s no doubt about it,” said Zverev. “But I didn’t give up. I knew that I want to do well, I’m the defending champion and I want to give myself the best chance to win. I did well to survive today.”

REMARKABLE 😧@AlexZverev defeats Brooksby 3-6 7-6 6-2 in 3 hours 19 minutes at 4.55am in Acapulco – the latest finish in tennis history!#AMT2022 pic.twitter.com/yn7l3RUaQE

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 22, 2022

Tonight, Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal open play. Medvedev faces Benoit Paire while Nadal takes on lucky loser Denis Kudla.

Stefanos Tsitsipas also is in action against Laslo Djere.

LATEST FINISHES TO A PRO TENNIS MATCH
4:55am 2022 Acapulco Alexander Zverev d. Jenson Brooksby
4:34am 2008 Australian Open Lleyton Hewitt d. Marcos Baghdatis
4:19am 2019 Davis Cup Querrey/Sock d. Bolelli/Fognini
3:34am 2007 Australian Open Andreas Seppi d. Bobby Reynolds
3:24am 2006 Tokyo Boris Becker d. Jiri Novak
3:18am 2015 Rio Rafael Nadal d. Pablo Cuevas