French Open in Paris
On a title mission: Zverev has to compete against outsiders
Updated on May 31, 2026 – 3:52 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Germany’s best tennis player wants to reach the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros. To do this, he first has to beat a dangerous “lucky loser”. Will the Hamburger’s title dream remain alive?
Tennis star Alexander Zverev will play against a Dutch outsider on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals at the French Open in Paris. The 29-year-old from Hamburg meets Jesper de Jong, who had actually already failed in qualifying. But as a so-called lucky loser, he still got a starting place in the main field, where he impressed with strong performances. Zverev is still the clear favorite.
Will the round of the last eight work? Follow the match live here in the ticker.
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Jesper de Jong – Alexander Zverev 1-0
1st set, 1:0 – De Jong serves first. And immediately puts pressure on it. With a cross he forces a backhand error from Zverev, then gets a stop and finishes at the net with a forehand longline. Zverev tries to vary but catches him on the wrong foot with a forehand. But then de Jong throws in a nice stop himself. Then Zverev hits his forehand longline improperly – and is initially behind.
Before the match – Both players are now on the field, Zverev is greeted with warm applause. Both of them get to know each other a little more and then it starts.
Before the match – After all: Zverev has a positive record against the tournament surprise. The Hamburger has won the two previous meetings. In 2024 he won the Masters in his hometown 6:2, 6:2, and last year here at the French Open there was a 3:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:3 in the second round.
Before the match – Four-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier still sees room for improvement with Zverev. “I thought Sascha looked really good for long stretches of the game, but then in some crucial moments he started to hold back and play less aggressively,” said the Eurosport expert about Zverev’s third-round success against Frenchman Quentin Halys: “These are the tendencies that he has worked so hard to overcome this year. But they are still there. They will continue to cause him problems and he will have to keep working on them.”
