Alexander Zverev is in the second round of the Australian Open after a complicated start.
Alexander Zverev politely applauded his opponent, then, relieved, he shuffled to the winner’s interview with Andrea Petkovic and collected the congratulations. The tennis star has successfully started his title mission at the Australian Open. In the first round, last year’s finalist defeated the initially strong Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6:7 (1:7), 6:1, 6:4, 6:2.
“The first set wasn’t my best tennis, but after that I felt very good. I’m happy with the level,” said Zverev after making up for an extremely bumpy start to the tournament. “It can’t get any worse than this,” he thought after the initial phase: “And after that it got a lot better.”
After 2:43 hours, Zverev had converted his match point and booked the ticket for the second round in Melbourne for the tenth time in a row. The next unseeded opponent is waiting for the Hamburger there: the Australian Alexei Popyrin or Alexandre Müller from France, who will only play against each other on Monday.
Zverev wanted to say one more thing on the court. “I already know how I have to play,” he said: “I don’t need 48 experts and 80 million Germans to tell me that for every single Grand Slam I play.”
Diallo was “a difficult opponent, a dangerous opponent,” Zverev had warned before his first meeting with the two-meter-tall serving giant. And at the beginning it became clear why. Diallo not only impressed with his service, he also repeatedly produced strong forehand shots and sometimes pushed Zverev far behind the baseline. Diallo also made several stops.
Zverev, who has often had a bumpy start to a major tournament, initially seemed strangely unsteady and displayed worrying body language in the first set. He also dropped his racket to the ground early in frustration. The Hamburger fought back after an early break deficit, but Diallo was too strong in the tie break.
Zverev takes advantage of Diallo’s mistakes
The early cold shower in the Melbourne midday heat had a healing effect on Zverev. The first serve was better now, and two quick breaks in the second round gave the German confidence back. The rallies between the two service experts remained short and so it only took 31 minutes until Zverev equalized the set.
He remained focused afterwards and took advantage of Diallo’s smaller mistakes. After a break win at the net, Zverev showed his fist decisively and didn’t let himself be dissuaded from his path.
Zverev is making his 40th attempt at the longed-for title at one of the four major tournaments at the tournament in Melbourne. Besides him, only one other German professional has to play on Sunday: Yannick Hanfmann will play in the third match of the day on the smaller Court 6 against qualifier Zachary Svajda (USA).
