Trauma overcome: Alexander Zverev moved into the third round of the French Open on his return to the Philippe Chatrier court.
At the site of his severe ankle injury a year ago, the tennis Olympic champion beat Slovakian Alex Molcan confidently 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 1 – and also impressed in terms of play.
“I was so nervous, but the audience helped me a lot,” said Zverev: “I still love playing on this pitch.”
Zverev will meet a top player for the first time on Saturday, the American Frances Tiafoe, who is number twelve.
In his opening game against South African Lloyd Harris, Zverev still had problems, but he solved his mandatory task against Molcan in the night session 363 days after his injury drama from the semifinals against Rafael Nadal, quickly and above all painlessly.
A few hours earlier, Zverev’s Davis Cup colleague Daniel Altmaier had needed significantly longer – and caused a big surprise. After an emotional marathon match over 5:26 hours, the 24-year-old beat Jannik Sinner, ninth in the world rankings, 6: 7 (0: 7), 7: 6 (9: 7), 1: 6, 7: 6 (7: 4), 7:5.