22:16
Zverev – O’Connell 5:4
Zverev is making his service game much more dominant, but now also has a significantly better rate than his opponent (68% to 45%). He makes it 40-0 with an ace and completes a remarkable inside-out forehand, which ticks up as an unattainable winner in the field.
22:13
Zverev – O’Connell 4:4
O’Connell actually gets through this close service game, even though Zverev is currently the better player. The Australian completes the cue ball all the more beautifully, the drop shot is only visible late and the German doesn’t have enough time to move forward.
22:11
Zverev – O’Connell 4:3
Germany’s number one wants the break, but his advance is not prepared well enough and O’Connell crosses with a backhand. Shortly afterwards, the Hamburger shows his backhand and plays the ball unreachably quickly into the forehand corner of his opponent – debut.
22:09
Zverev – O’Connell 4:3
Zverev is forced into the defensive, but holds on and benefits from his counterpart’s frame hit. Second breakball for the German – but O’Connell survives that too, because once again the Hamburger’s forehand cross doesn’t make it over the net.
22:07
Zverev – O’Connell 4:3
The Australian made another double fault at 30:30, giving his opponent his first chance to break. Once again O’Connell has to point for his second attempt, but benefits from a clever forehand from the German – debut!
10:05 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 4:3
What a forehand longline! Under pressure, Zverev puts the ball along the line right into the corner – the Hamburg player rightly clenches both his fists after winning the point to make it 15.
22:01
Zverev – O’Connell 4:3
The reigning Olympic champion steps up a gear at the right moment, dominates two rallies in a row and turns his own serve game around. Zverev now leads 4:3, everything is still in order.
9:59 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 3:3
In fact, the Australian is given the opportunity to break because the German number one’s forehand longline is too long. Zverev stays cool, serves well to the outside and completes the short return with a volley at the net – debut.
9:58 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 3:3
Zverev’s serve is currently extremely difficult and the Hamburger can hardly get his first attempts over the net. At 15:30, O’Connell sniffs a break chance for the first time – it would be the first in this match.
9:55 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 3:3
O’Connell still can’t let the game go to 3:3 because he gets two first serves over and can thus dominate the rallies.
9:54 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 3:2
Great return winner from the German: Zverev attacks his opponent’s second attempt and sees that the Australian is advancing. The forehand cross cannot be reached by the outsider. 30:15!
9:50 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 3:2
The German number one wants to shorten two rallies in a row, but gives away the points through his own mistakes from the half field and brings O’Connell up to 30 both. Zverev then played it more forcefully and increased the score to 3:2 with a volley.
9:48 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 2:2
For the first time ever, the German plays serve and volley and is rewarded with loud applause from the audience after the point makes it 15-0.
9:47 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 2:2
In the end, the man from Australia gets through the serve game and now it’s Zverev’s turn again.
9:46 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 2:1
The Australian has a lot of confidence in his service and even hits an ace on his second attempt to make it 30-0. O’Connell also keeps the pace high and therefore the rallies short. When the score was 40:15, Zverev, who had advanced, went all out and played on the man – so the Hamburger seemed to have broken his opponent’s rhythm. For the first time in the match it’s about a debut.
9:40 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 2:1
Zverev again doesn’t go through this service game without a loss and gives up a point, but he is able to keep the rallies short overall. When it comes to the cue ball, the Australian runs a ball briefly cross, but then places his own forehand cross behind the baseline.
9:37 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 1:1
O’Connell starts his own serve with a lot of pressure and forces his opponent onto the defensive. But the Australian can also do it with a fine blade, as he proves with 30:0 and 40:0. The number 66 converted the game ball to make it 1-1 at the first attempt because Zverev put a forehand cross into the net.
9:33 p.m
Zverev – O’Connell 1-0
The Olympic champion from Rio only gives up one point because the Australian passes him longline with his backhand. Otherwise, it’s a good start for Zverev, even if the first serve isn’t quite there yet.
9:31 p.m
Let’s go!
The first rally begins with a first serve from the German, after that neither of them takes much risk and ultimately it is O’Connell’s backhand that ends up being too long.
9:25 p.m
Zverev will start with his own serve
O’Connell has just won the coin toss and decided to return. With this, the Hamburger will open with his service game after the short impact.
9:21 p.m
The court is already empty
Because Alex de Minaur made short work of his competitor Taro Daniel in his second round match, Stadium 3 is already free on time. Zverev and his opponent are not on the court yet, but it will probably start on time.
9:13 p.m
Tournament experience as an advantage?
This is O’Connell’s first participation in the Indian Wells main draw, while the Hamburg native will be playing in California for the eighth time. Zverev’s best performance at this tournament was three years ago: he ended up in the quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz.
9:11 p.m
Balanced head-to-head
The two players met twice last year: In Dubai, Zverev celebrated reaching the quarter-finals in two sets, and just a few weeks later the Australian took revenge in Munich, of all places. Both matches went over two sets – let’s see if that’s the case today.
9:06 p.m
O’Connell is establishing himself on the ATP Tour
Last year, the Australian Christopher O’Connell was only occasionally represented at major tournaments on the ATP tour. The 29-year-old has now established himself and was most recently traveling in the Arab region in Doha and Dubai. At both events, the world number 66 met a German in the first round, with both Struff and Marterer losing out to the Australian in two sets each.
9:02 p.m
Zverev with an early exit in Acapulco
Alexander Zverev started the new season strongly with victory at the United Cup and the semi-finals at the Australian Open. The Hamburg native then returned to the tour in Mexico and continued his performances Down Under with the semi-finals in Los Cabos – in Acapulco there was a surprising early first round exit against Daniel Altmaier. In the American desert, the Olympic champion wants to quickly forget the slip-up.
8:55 p.m
Good evening!
Hello and welcome to the second round of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells! Today Alexander Zverev is entering the tournament because he survived the first round with a bye thanks to his ranking. His match against Christopher O’Connell is scheduled to begin at around 9:30 p.m.