3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 1:5 – De Jong is fighting, but has to let Zverev push him quite a bit now. The Hamburger wins a long rally over 16 strokes with a forehand winner. Curious scene then: Zverev lets his opponent’s forehand fly out through his legs because he just realized that the shot was too long. After de Jong’s double fault, Zverev has three break points again – and immediately uses the first with another forehand winner. Now the third in the world rankings can serve for the quarter-finals.
3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 1:4 – A bit of luck for Zverev that his opponent’s forehand jumps out of the net. He keeps his serve short again and makes it 4:1. With winning shot number 33 – de Jong has only 15 so far.
3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 1:3 – Applause erupts in the Chatrier: De Jong whips a forehand past Zverev to the point. But he can’t add more now, he only lets something flash every now and then. He seeks salvation in flight, comes to the net and finishes with a volley. And then he gets help from Zverev, who makes a stop completely wrong and ends up in the net. De Jong shortens the gap with a serve winner.
3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 0:3 – But de Jong doesn’t want to completely admit defeat yet. At 0:30, he benefits from a ball that is too long from his opponent, finishes with a cross, and receives another applause from the audience in Chatrier. However, Zverev plays it to the end seriously, first with a forehand winner, then with the Dutchman’s next unforced error.
3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 0:2 – Break Alexander Zverev. There’s a lot going on for the German right now, de Jong seems to be a little out of breath at the moment. An unforced error, then the Dutchman concedes a forehand winner and a backhand – and Zverev has three break points. The first one is already in place because de Jong misses a great chance when the Hamburger comes to the net. But his praise goes too far.
3rd set, 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 0:1 – It continues: De Jong hardly has anything to counter Zverev’s serve game. The German brings his service through to zero at the start of this third set.
