Alexander Zverev failed in revenge – “Gladiator” Yannick Hanfmann brought down the next favorite not far from the Colosseum in Rome.
The Karlsruher made it into the quarter-finals of a tournament in the 1000 category for the first time at the ATP Masters with a 7: 6 (7: 5), 4: 6, 6: 3 against number six seeded Andrey Rublev and hoped for Zverev as his next opponent .
In vain: The Olympic champion from Hamburg went into the explosive match against Daniil Medvedev with high hopes.
But the third in the world rankings from Moscow determined the game from the start and celebrated the ninth victory in the 15th duel with Zverev after 1:56 hours with a 6:2, 7:6 (7:3).
Double shift for Alexander Zverev
It was the second act of the day for Zverev. In the morning he won the continuation of his game against the American Jeffrey John Wolf (USA), which had been canceled on Monday due to rain, 6:4, 7:5.
In the evening, Zverev conceded the third bankruptcy in a row at a Masters against Medvedev in 2023. The last duel in Monte Carlo ended badly. “He’s one of the most unfair players we have in the world,” Zverev was annoyed by the antics of the former US Open winner after the round of 16 defeat. However, there was a debate at the Masters in Madrid.
In the “eternal city” the duel remained calm – until Medvedev’s service game after his break in the second set to 4: 3. He felt disturbed by the heckling of a spectator and had this sent from the system. However, his concentration was gone, and he promptly conceded the rebreak to compensate.
Medvedev had previously safely downplayed his program on the baseline, Zverev tried in vain to seize the game with risky balls. The result was too many mistakes. After 33 minutes and two breaks to make it 1-0 and 5-2, Medvedev won the first set. In an exciting final phase, Medvedev had better nerves in the tie-break.
For Zverev it was another setback on the way to the French Open in Paris. After his serious ankle injury in Paris last year, the 26-year-old is still looking for consistency. It is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine that he will be able to repeat the form of the previous year before Paris. There he had eliminated the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, then he injured himself in the semifinals against eventual winner Rafael Nadal.
Yannick Hanfmann celebrates “gladiator-like” performance
Immediately before Zverev’s match, Yannick Hanfmann continued his amazing triumphal march. After 2:35 hours he converted his first match point against Rublev.
“It was gladiator-like here in Rome,” said the 31-year-old after the match on “Sky”, “I’m a bit speechless. That was an energetic performance. I have a little heavy legs after three great matches on three days.”
Hanfmann had played his way into the main field through qualification. Surprisingly, he then prevailed in round two against world number ninth Taylor Fritz from the USA. This was only his second success against a top 10 player.
The coup against Rublev followed. “When I’m fine, I’m dangerous. I have dangerous weapons on sand,” said Hanfmann.