18:51
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 1: 2
Zverev is still at 100 percent. In other words, if the first comes, the point also belongs to him. This is happening now for the 19th time. In this case, however, Eubanks is close, makes a stop, but then misses the backhand played cross.
18:49
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 1: 2
Eubanks builds up the rally well against Zverev, who is positioned too far behind, marches forward and sets the backhand volley. Then the US boy produces his third ace and takes a 2-1 lead.
18:48
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 1: 1
Zverev uses the entire length of the square and can be pushed to the gang far behind. Eubanks advances and scores. 30:0! But the 27-year-old still makes regular mistakes.
18:46
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 1: 1
The second lost point doesn’t really hurt the Olympic champion. The next strong first serve settles this in his favor.
18:45
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 0: 1
With his fourth ace, the Hamburger gets two game balls. But then Zverev comes under pressure, plays his backhand uncontrollably, which promptly sails out.
18:44
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 0: 1
No herb seems to have grown again against the serving Zverev. The 26-year-old has dropped a point in each of his previous service games. And that seems to be the case again now.
18:42
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2, 0: 1
But like at the beginning of the first round, the US boy gets through his service game quite quickly, so he can now submit it again.
18:41
2nd sentence
Again, it’s up to Eubanks to open the rate. The first two points go to him. Then a double fault gets in his way.
18:40
interim conclusion
After half an hour, Alexander Zverev has the first sentence in his pocket and has so far solved his opening task here in Geneva with ease. Variable surcharges and the significantly better opportunities in the rallies, i.e. in terms of impact repertoire, spoke for the 3rd seeded German. This was compounded by an extremely large number of mistakes by Christopher Eubanks, resulting in this fairly straightforward affair.
18:38
Zverev – Eubanks 6: 2
Then a backhand slice from the American lands in the net. That brings Zverev two set balls. And it’s the first one. Eubanks goes around the backhand, but the forehand inside-out doesn’t make it over the fence either.
18:36
Zverev – Eubanks 5: 2
Zverev not only serves hard, but also always variably and with spin. Eubanks can’t handle that. Then a 222 km/h fast impact rocket lands just under. The Hamburger storms over the second to the net, gets stuck on the edge of the net with the forehand volley. 30:15!
18:35
Zverev – Eubanks 5: 2
Now Zverev has it on his own bat and can serve the sentence. And whenever his first serve has come so far, the point also went to him. The German only gave up three points after second place.
18:34
Zverev – Eubanks 5: 2
In this phase, Zverev does not come into play via the returns. Eubanks can move up, executed overhead. Then there is still serve and volley to marvel at. The forehand ball sits and the number 75 in the world remains in the set for the time being.
18:31
Zverev – Eubanks 5: 1
As a result, Eubanks is now serving against the loss of the set, producing a backhand error. The tall US boy does not do enough with his serves and now forces one of the few points. This is followed by his second ace of the day.
18:30
Zverev – Eubanks 5: 1
Zverev reacts with the next ace, then serves well to the outside again. Eubanks forehand return goes too long. And it’s already 5:1.
18:30
Zverev – Eubanks 4: 1
Furthermore, Zverev looks very confident, ignites his second ace through the middle of the square. Then the 26-year-old makes one of his few mistakes. He clearly steps into the field, actually has time for this backhand, which lands on the edge of the net. 30:15!
18:27
Zverev – Eubanks 4: 1
Eubanks bravely goes against it, actually plays it well, marches forward, plays the forehand ball to the side. But Zverev is quick on his feet, runs the felt ball and unpacks a great forehand passing ball under pressure. This is the double break!
18:26
Zverev – Eubanks 3: 1
In the rallies, Zverev is still in charge. After the next forehand error, Eubanks faces two break points.
18:25
Zverev – Eubanks 3: 1
Now Eubanks delivers his first double fault, does not want to admit it. But the chair umpire looks at the imprint and sticks to the decision. It’s gone to the side.
18:24
Zverev – Eubanks 3: 1
With his own serve, Zverev only gives up points with a double fault. Otherwise his adversary has nothing to order and has no chance with this backhand longline. Zverev keeps his service to 3: 1.
18:22
Zverev – Eubanks 2: 1
Then the German, who was placed 3rd, made the second double fault. There is still no trouble – 30:15. And in the longer rallies, Zverev always has the better end anyway. Eubanks’ mistakes make sure of that.
18:21
Zverev – Eubanks 2: 1
Zverev serves well – also when the second is needed for the second time in the match. After that, the 2019 champion plays serve and volley, which he ends up doing with feeling and with success.
18:18
Zverev – Eubanks 2: 1
The Olympic champion uses this first break chance and gets help from the other person again. A cross forehand from Eubanks lands sideways out of bounds.
18:17
Zverev 1-1 Eubanks
There is almost nothing to see other than serves. But then Zverev unpacks a brilliant backhand return. Played longline, he gets the point. After that, there is a small rally and Eubanks is set in motion. So this one makes a backhand error. Brewakball!
18:16
Zverev 1-1 Eubanks
Zverev then scored the first point against the serving American. Very short rallies remain the order of the day. Then Eubanks fires his first ace.
18:14
Zverev 1-1 Eubanks
Apart from that, the first always comes – and then as an ace at the end. The German also manages to win the game without any problems and equalizes.
18:13
Zverev 0-1 Eubanks
Now it’s Zverev’s turn, starts with a service winner and immediately sends the first double fault.
18:12
Zverev 0-1 Eubanks
Three times comes the first, which brings three balls. Then Eubanks has to try second for the first time, still makes the point and walks to zero to win the first game.
18:11
Zverev 0-0 Eubanks
Zverev has already grown tall at almost two meters. Eubanks still packs three centimeters on it, measures an impressive 2.01 meters.
18:09
1 sentence
Now Eubanks opens the first duel of these two. The first serve comes promptly. Set through the middle of the field, Zverev does not bring this ball back.
18:06
Little clay court practice
So far this season, Eubanks has only played on hard courts, reached the round of 16 in Auckland at the beginning of the year, and is still extensively on the Challenger Tour – most recently at three tournaments in South Korea with the semi-finals in Gwangju. The US boy is in Geneva for the first time and started the week with a two-set win against Benoît Paire. By the way, that was his first clay court match in almost exactly a year. The last he played in qualifying for the French Open 2022.
18:03
Entry and coin toss
At that moment, our protagonists enter the square. After a few steps of preparation, the Spanish chair umpire Nacho Forcadell meets at the net to vote. The coin falls in favor of Eubanks, who decides to serve. Then both play a bit.
17:53
Eubanks at number 75
Christopher Eubanks is one of the rising players, although he is already 27 years old. Most recently, the American climbed to number 75 in the world rankings. The right-hander has never been this high before, but he still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of success. Eubanks has never reached a final on the ATP tour, was in the second round of the last two Grand Slam tournaments for the first time, but then drew attention as a quarter-finalist at the 1,000 in Miami. That can almost be counted as his greatest achievement. At best, he won the title with Challengers. At this level he played six finals and won three of them. These tournaments were all held in the United States or Mexico, as well as on hard court.
17:44
Zverev 2023
Since the comeback at the beginning of the year, Zverev has at least reached a semifinal – at the 500 in Dubai. After that, he was almost regularly in the round of 16 of the Masters events, but always failed there because of the big names – especially Medvedev, but also Alcaraz. The last step to the highest level is still missing for the former second in the world rankings, who has now slipped to position 27 and is no longer Germany’s number 1.
17:35
Past Achievements
In the meantime, Zverev has played 30 finals on the ATP tour and won 19 titles (six on sand), became Olympic champion in 2021, was a US Open finalist in 2020, won five Masters tournaments and was able to celebrate as ATP champion in 2018 and 2021 . The latter triumph represents the last title to date. In 2022, the Hamburg player played two more finals and then seriously injured his ankle in the semifinals of the French Open. Since then, the right-hander has been struggling to regain his former form.
17:26
Wildcard for the 2019 champion
After the early end at the Masters in Rome, Zverev decided at short notice to work on his clay court form in Switzerland. Of course, the organizers had a wild card ready for such a well-known player, which meant that the 26-year-old found himself in 3rd place on the seeding list and enjoyed a bye at the start. There is another reason for this courteous treatment, because in his only appearance so far here in the canton of Geneva, Zverev won the tournament in 2019.
17:16
Welcome
Welcome to the Gonet Geneva Open! This week in Geneva, Switzerland, this 250 tournament of tennis professionals takes place, the tradition of which dates back to 1980 and which, after a 24-year break, has been taking place regularly since 2015 with the Corona exception in 2020. At around 6:00 p.m. we will focus on Alexander Zverev’s match against Christopher Eubanks.