Germany’s tennis number one Alexander Zverev reached the round of 16 at the US Open in New York after the next effort against Grigor Dimitrov.
Hamburg, seeded number twelve, prevailed against his “favourite opponent” Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria in a high-class and at times dramatic game 6:7 (2:7), 7:6 (10:8), 6:1, 6:1 and advanced to the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows for the fourth straight season.
There the Olympic champion meets the sixth in the world rankings Jannik Sinner, with the Italian the first really big chunk awaits Zverev on Monday (local time). Against Dimitrov, number 19 in the world, it was Zverev’s sixth win in the seventh duel. Only after 3:38 hours did the Hamburg player use his first match point.
At the start of the night session in Louis Armstrong Stadium, a match developed at a high level, Dimitrov posed problems for Zverev, especially with many slice shots. “I haven’t seen such a strong Dimitrov for a long time,” said expert Boris Becker on the microphone – and the Bulgarian got the first round after 1:10 hours in the tie-break with strong nerves.
About three weeks ago in Cincinnati, Zverev had easily dominated the Bulgarians 6: 2, 6: 2, but the former third in the world rankings did not let up. Zverev pushed himself, in the second set the Hamburger’s nerves held, who equalized after a dramatic tie-break – the turning point in the game.
Because suddenly things went well for Zverev, the Bulgarian’s strength decreased noticeably. Zverev broke early in the third set, Dimitrov took a medical break after the 1: 6. Zverev was unimpressed and in the end moved confidently into the next round.