Alexander Zverev had to fight hard for three sets to win against Argentine Ugo Carabelli in the second round at the Masters in Paris.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev was visibly relieved when he converted the match point against Ugo Carabelli at the Masters in Paris. The 6:7, 6:1, 7:5 was hard work for the best German tennis professional, who was able to improve significantly after the first set and reached the third round of the tournament.
The Argentine tried to throw Zverev out of rhythm with lots of slice balls – which he did well, especially in the first set. After that, Zverev improved and was a little lucky in the end that Carabelli couldn’t keep his concentration high over the long term.
In the third round, Zverev will face either the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovic Fokina or the French Arthur Cazaux.
Carabelli improves
Despite a strong serve rate (80 percent of the first serves reached their target, which brought the point in 77 percent of the cases and 100 percent for the second ones), Zverev wasn’t enough for the first set.
In the crucial moments, the solid Argentinian was even able to improve. Only nine net attacks from the German did not impress Carabelli. Both players held their serves, so the tiebreak had to be decided.
In this, Zverev made slight mistakes that gave the extremely concentrated Carabelli set points and also the set 7:6.
Zverev with 17 net attacks
In the second round, Zverev immediately increased the pace, suddenly avoided careless mistakes and increased the pressure with more frequent attacks on the net. Zverev managed a break on Carabelli’s first serve game to make it 2-0. After that, the 28-year-old showed no more nakedness.
When the score was 4:1, Zverev took advantage of his second break chance of the day and increased the score to 5:1. After 17 net attacks, he confidently completed the second set 6:1.
Zverev stumbles – and gets a re-break
The third set started evenly again, with both players winning their service game. With the Argentine leading 2-1, Zverev made two slight errors and used the first break point of the third round to make it 3-1.
But Zverev, who seemed a little physically weak during this phase, fought – and immediately got the re-break. And in his following service game, the German kept his nerve and equalized to 3-3.
Both players performed solidly again in the following two service games and held their own. The baseline specialist Carabelli tried to pin Zverev on the baseline and to annoy and lull him with his slice balls and as little speed as possible. But Zveverv remained steadfast and resisted the style of play with recurring net attacks and successful volley play.
When the score was 5:5, Carabelli suddenly lost his nerve and served two double faults in a row. Zverev used the resulting break ball to make it 6:5. He won the following service game without losing a point and secured the set 7:5 – as well as the narrow overall victory.