No. 12 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany will face 19^th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the US Open third round on Saturday, 2^nd of September. 

The winner will face either sixth-seed Jannik Sinner of Italy or Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka in the next round. 

Ever since Grigor Dimitrov had won his first meeting with the German (at the Swiss Indoors in 2014), Sascha Zverev has won five in a row against the Bulgarian and will be looking to add another victory this weekend. 

Alexander Zverev had to endure a long injury layoff in the second half of last season but the German is gradually regaining his best form. 

Zverev once again reached the French Open semifinals a few months ago and the German dismantled Grigor Dimitrov en route to his semi-final defeat from Casper Ruud. 

Furthermore, the top-ranked German won his first title since he triumphed at the ATP Finals in 2021, as Zverev won the Hamburg European Open (on clay courts in his hometown) in July, right before he traveled to North America. 

Sascha Zverev failed to impress in Toronto (he lost 6-1, 6-2 to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the second round) but he did much better in Cincinnati where Zverev was involved in a highly competitive clash with the eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. 

The 12^th seed German has always reached the second week on his last three US Open appearances. Having missed last year's US Open due to an injury, Zverev had most remarkably reached the final in 2020 (when he suffered a dramatic loss after he served for the title against Dominic Thiem) as well as the semi-finals in 2021. 

Zverev continued his good results in New York City with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 first round win over an in-form Aleksandar Vukic of Australia. 

Alexander Zverev has just won the all-German clash against Daniel Altmaier in the second round and is now bidding to extend his winning streak against Grigor Dimitrov. 

The Bulgarian recently revealed how much he enjoys being on the court right now and that his fitness levels are better than they were five years ago. His happiness and confidence probably resulted in some of his best performances over the past couple of years.  

Dimitrov reached his first ATP final in more than five years at the Geneva Open in Switzerland earlier this season (in May). However, he lost to Nicolas Jarry of Chile but it was a valuable experience for the Bulgarian number one. 

Contesting his 51^st consecutive Grand Slam tournament here this year, the Bulgarian is still looking for his maiden Major final. 

Grigor Dimitrov started his North American hard-court campaign at the Washington Open where he lost to eventual winner Dan Evans of Great Britain in the semi-finals. He continued with a disappointing first round defeat to Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati (6-2, 6-2). 

Meanwhile, Dimitrov withdrew from the Toronto Masters due to a lower back injury but he seems to be in fine shape right now. 

The Bulgarian accomplished one of his most memorable results at the US Open when he wrapped up a 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 quarter-final victory over Roger Federer five years ago. 

At this year's US Open, the 32-year-old achieved his first comeback from two sets to love down when he beat Alex Molcan of Slovakia in the opening round. 

Grigor Dimitrov compensated for the first round exhaustion as he breezed past Scottish veteran and 2012 champion Andy Murray in the second round. It was a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory that saw Dimitrov finally breaking the second round barrier at Flushing Meadows. 

Thus, Dimitrov avoided a fourth consecutive second round exit at the US Open and, in fact, he surpassed the second round at Flushing Meadows just once in his previous six attempts - when he reached the semi-finals in 2019. 

Given his current progress and the manner of his recent wins over Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev is an overwhelming favorite to beat his Bulgarian opponent. However, unlike their last meeting in Cincinnati in mid-August, we don't expect an easy match for the German as Dimitrov has the mojo to put in a more challenging performance.