Despite having some huge potential to become the new ruler of men's tennis, the 20-year-old Alexander Zverev must learn how to balance his game properly. In order to get in that upper drawer, he has to produce an impact in terms of Grand Slam tournaments.

Seeded fourth at 2017 Us Open Tennis Championships, the young German faced Darian King (168 ATP) in the round of 128. As it turned out, the world No. 4 needed almost three hours to get past his low-ranked opponent. He did win in straight sets, even though he had to put in some serious work to steal the victory in the minimum of sets.

Winning two ATP titles during the warm-up session prior to US Open is basically what qualifies him for a deep run in New York. And of course, there is also the lack of ATP stars from the main draw. Murray, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Raonic or Nishikori are out due to various injuries so here's a great chance for others to make the run of their careers.

Alexander Zverev is yet to settle in

Being a Grand Slam favorite at 20 years of age may put an enormous amount of pressure on a player's shoulders. All of the sudden, he shares the same unique golden pit with his childhood idol ( Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal). It's completely new territory, and the pressure takes its toll. Throughout his opening match, Alexander Zverev seemed to feel that tension snicking in into his core.

As a result, he made a huge number of unforced errors which may give an explanation of the apparent balance between him and Darian King. Zverev ended the match having 54 winners under his belt. But, most of them were reduced to nothing by a huge load of unforced errors ( 62 by the official count). The final score had Zverev winning in straight sets by 6-7(9) 5-7 4-6.

The second round will bring Borna Coric on the other side of the net. It'll be an interesting match between two exponents of the younger generation. Coric, 20, has won their sole previous meeting in Cincinnati round of 64 back in 2015. The winner of this encounter will have to deal either with Kevin Anderson or Ernest Gulbis.

And that would be an interesting match up too, especially between Zverev and Anderson as they have had an interesting summer confronting twice on hard.

Zverev with a solid season so far

Entering the last Grand Slam of the season, and the last chapter of the North American outdoor hard swing, Zverev is on top of the list of players who did well in 2017. Winning two Masters 1000 on different surfaces ( on clay in Rome where he defeated Djokovic and on hard in Montreal where he got past Federer), and other three smaller titles, he is riding the wave. US Open stands as the biggest test as he is yet to confirm when it comes to Majors.