Alexander Zverev and Jenson Brooksby created history in Acapulco as their overnight tussle at the Mexican Open became the latest ever finish to a professional match, ending shortly before 5am local time.
The German second seed claimed a 3-6 7-6 (10) 6-2 victory in the best part of three and half hours, eclipsing the 2008 Australian Open match between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which finished at 4.34am.
A late conclusion was always on the cards as the match did not start until 1.30am but, when Amercian Brooksby won the first set in 43 minutes, bedtime appeared relatively close.
However, it was a 111-minute second set that did the damage, with Zverev saving two match points in a mammoth tie-break before sending it to a decider.
Momentum swung in his favour and he secured two breaks in the third set to wrap up victory at 4.55am – just over two hours before sunrise.
