"Today I was not the better player on court" - Zverev admits following five-set victory over Herbert at Roland Garros

US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev had to dig deep on Wednesday during his second round match at Roland Garros, but eventually found a way to vanquish Pierre-Hugues Herbert and advance to the next round.

The sixth seed required five sets to overcome home favourite Herbert, escaping with a 2-6 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4 victory after four hours.

"I think I'm quite fit, to be honest. I feel like physically I'm okay. But sometimes I just feel like I find a way to win," Zverev said. "Today I was not the better player on court. I was not hitting my forehand better, not hitting my backhand better, not serving better. I was not doing anything better than he did. But I found a way, which was the most important. Sometimes I manage to do that quite well."

The German has always struggled on the red dirt, as six of his 12 career victories in Paris have come in five sets.

"It's something that I worked on not in the matches, but outside the court, in the gym [during] the offseason and the training blocks that I did. It was for these moments," Zverev said. "You don't need to be lifting 170 kilos on dead lifts or 150 kilos on squats for three-set matches. That's not what you're doing it for. You're doing it for five-set matches, for the big moments like this. I think that the work has been done not on the court, but off the court."

The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion is looking to reach a third consecutive quarterfinal at Roland Garros. Standing in his way is 2018 semifinalist Marco Cecchinato, who defeated Juan Ignacio Londero 6-3 6-2 5-7 6-2 earlier in the day.