Alexander Zverev is also in impressive form in the round of 16 of the Australian Open. The Frenchman Hugo Humbert could only set accents in one sentence.
It was Alexander Zverev’s next well-deserved success. The best German tennis player won against the French Hugo Humbert after a strong performance 6:1, 2:6, 6:3, 6:2. In doing so, the Hamburg native preserves his chance, his first Grand Slam-To win the title. In the quarterfinals, Zverev will face the American Tommy Paul. The statistics speak against the German: he has lost his two previous duels with Paul on hard courts.
The German attacked Humbert like a fire department. Zverev served as if he wanted to intimidate the Frenchman so much for the rest of the game that he didn’t even want to think about a break. 85 percent of his first serves found their target – an extremely strong rate.
In addition, the 27-year-old returned so brilliantly that Humbert hardly knew where to serve the felt ball.
Zverev almost always had a better answer ready and just hit his opponent with the balls. The Frenchman was completely overwhelmed at this point and went down 6-1.
Zverev will more error prone
But as is often the case in tennis, it is difficult to confirm such a high level in the next round. This is also the case in the second sentence from the German’s perspective.
While Zverev decreased somewhat in his performance and in his consistency (13 unforced errors, only 78 percent of first serves), Humbert gradually improved his serving and, above all, his return game.
Suddenly Humbert parried even the German’s fastest serves and played them back with the best quality. That had consequences: Zverev had to accept two breaks and he lost clearly 2:6.
Game more balanced in the 3rd set
In the third set, a balanced game developed from the Frenchman’s point of view until the score was 3:4. Both players played stable and solid. But Zverev had the momentum on his side in this eighth game and took advantage of his second break chance with a clever return that was difficult for Humbert to handle.
In the following service game, Zverev confidently held his nerve and secured the third set 6:3.
Strong backhand
At the beginning of the fourth set, Humbert suddenly found himself unexpectedly error-prone. Six mistakes by the Frenchman ensured that Zverev managed the first break early on to make it 2-1. And afterwards Zverev remained highly concentrated, avoided too many emotions and increased the score to 3-1.
With the score at 4:2, Zverev wanted and was able to make the preliminary decision when he converted a spectacular backhand to the next break and make it 5:2. The German’s last service game was just a formality and the 6:2 and victory against Humbert was certain.