What Tuesday's US Open results really told us - Eala looked completely at home and Zverev survived — but should we be concerned?

Day three at Flushing Meadows was defined as much by the rain as by the tennis. Persistent storms wiped out large chunks of the outdoor schedule, leaving several first-round matches — including Jódar-Bu, Choinski-Van de Zandschulp, Marozsan-Zheng and de Minaur's opener — unfinished heading into day four. It is a genuinely unusual situation this deep into the tournament.

But on the courts where play was completed, the day produced several early storylines that go beyond the scorelines. Alexander Zverev's five-hour escape raised the first questions around the No. 1 seed, while Taylor Fritz delivered a convincing performance that puts him in a strong position to make a deep run in New York.

On the other side, Alexandra Eala's highly anticipated campaign began with a convincing win that backed up the expectations surrounding her, while Gael Monfils provided one of the day's biggest highlights. The Frenchman defeated a player 18 years younger on his 40th birthday, securing a memorable final Grand Slam victory as he prepares to retire.

Several big names have now completed their first-round matches, giving us the first meaningful clues about what we can expect from them at this year's US Open.

Alexander Zverev needed four hours and 53 minutes to see off Lorenzo Sonego, coming through 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 after finding himself two points from a first-round exit at one stage. The top seed endured relentless pressure on his second serve for long stretches, eventually finding a way through, but the manner of the victory raises legitimate questions.

This was another major physical test for Zverev after a shaky hard-court summer, following difficult stretches in his recent campaigns. A five-set battle against a dangerous opponent like Sonego is hardly a disaster, but it is not the kind of opening statement a No. 1 seed wants to make.

Sonego is a tricky opponent to face at the start of a Grand Slam, particularly given his ability to disrupt rhythm and turn matches into physical battles. But if Zverev is serious about challenging for the title after reaching consecutive Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, he will need to produce more than he showed against the Italian. The real test will come when the draw starts bringing bigger names into his path.

There was no such drama for Taylor Fritz, who dismissed 18-year-old wildcard Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a controlled opening match. Fritz won 91% of his first-serve points, never dropped serve and finished the match without being forced into a serious test. It was not a statement victory, but it was exactly the kind of low-mileage start a player with genuine title ambitions wants.

Fritz has made no secret of his goal in New York: becoming the first American man to win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Asked about the possibility of falling short again, the world No. 4 was equally direct, saying he would be disappointed because he has always followed through on the major goals he has set for himself.

The draw also gives Fritz a different opportunity this year. Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, the two players who ended his US Open campaigns in the last three editions, are not standing in his way this time. That does not make the path easy, but after a clean first round and another strong summer on hard courts, Fritz has given himself an early platform to turn another New York run into something bigger.

Arthur Fery's Wimbledon breakthrough met a much tougher reality at the US Open, as the Briton fell 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to Lorenzo Musetti. The wildcard had reached the Wimbledon semifinals only weeks earlier, but he never seriously threatened the Italian in their first-round meeting. Musetti, meanwhile, was still finding his feet after an injury layoff, making Fery's lack of resistance even more noticeable.

Fery's Wimbledon run was one of the stories of the summer, but the US Open exposed the difference between producing a breakthrough week and establishing yourself against proven top-level opposition. Musetti, a former world No. 6 and established top-15 player, had too much experience across best-of-five tennis, even without playing at his highest level.

The defeat leaves Fery with an interesting challenge for the remainder of the season. He now has to show that Wimbledon was the beginning of a broader rise rather than an isolated breakthrough. Hard courts will offer further opportunities to prove he can regularly compete with Top 30 opposition across surfaces and turn his 2026 breakthrough into a permanent place among the sport's established names.

If Fery's day was a reality check, Alexandra Eala's was the opposite. The Filipino teenager brushed aside qualifier Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 in what was described as a near-flawless display, continuing to look every bit like the tournament's new crowd favorite rather than a No. 17 seed still adjusting to the spotlight.

Nothing about her performance suggested someone overwhelmed by the stage; if anything, she looked more comfortable than several players with far more Grand Slam experience did on the same day. After her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, this time as the No. 17 seed, she would be expected to at least match that run — and even surpass it. However, it is still too early to speculate about how far she can go in New York this time, but at least the start provides plenty of optimism.

Gael Monfils turned 40 on Tuesday and marked it with a genuinely vintage performance, dropping the first set to Adolfo Daniel Vallejo before transforming the match completely — three games lost across the final three sets, 37 winners, and flashes of the athletic, crowd-pleasing tennis that's defined two decades of his career.

On what he has said will be his farewell Grand Slam campaign, Monfils shows no sign of being an easy out, even against players a fraction of his age — though a likely second-round meeting with the steady, rising Learner Tien will be a considerably different test than Tuesday's. Ranked outside the Top 300 and at 40 years old, he showed an athleticism and conviction that suggest Monfils could extend his career even further if he wanted to — although it seems highly unlikely that he will reverse his decision.

Beyond Eala, day three offered plenty more evidence that the sport's next wave isn't waiting patiently. Mirra Andreeva advanced alongside the established stars, Tien's efficient game continues to loom as one of the tournament's more interesting subplots, and Stefanos Tsitsipas's stunning first-round win over 10th seed Arthur Fils — his first in six meetings with the Frenchman — added yet another twist to a first week that's already produced more upsets and unfinished business than most.

Expectations were high for Fils, but he ultimately failed to live up to them and fell to Tsitsipas's experience. Learner Tien, meanwhile, lived up to the occasion with a convincing win on his debut, and is beginning to emerge as a local hope to go deep into the tournament. On the women's side, established names Eala and Andreeva also secured strong wins, suggesting both could make deep runs and emerge as contenders for the title.