Tennis star Alexander Zverev made it to the round of 16 at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid with a little effort and nerve.
The 29-year-old won against the error-prone Terence Atmane from France 6:3, 7:6 (7:2) after 1:37 hours of play. In the next duel, the Russian Karen Khachanov or Jakub Mensik from the Czech Republic are waiting.
“I had a few physical problems in the second set. I won’t say what it is,” said Zverev after the game: “I played a very good match up to 6:3, 5:2. Let’s see what it is. I hope I can play tomorrow.”
Atmane was only able to really challenge the top German player towards the end of the second set. When Zverev served to win the match, the outsider made the first break to 4:5 and then served his own serve with a lot of passion.
Atmane suddenly blossoms – Zverev counters
The world number 74 suddenly blossomed, Zverev had to fight for the victory that had already been believed to be certain. After a short phase of weakness, the world number three still found the right answers and held his nerve in the tiebreak, while Atmane complained loudly about his mistakes.
Along with Italian world number one Jannik Sinner, Zverev is the biggest contender for the title in the clay court tournament, which is worth around $8.2 million. His chances have increased after the cancellations of the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the Serbian Novak Djokovic.
Zverev is the only remaining German tennis professional in the individual competitions in Madrid. There are no longer any German players in the women’s tournament.
