Alexander Zverev manages a convincing opening win at the US Open. Tamara Korpatsch also moves into the second round.
Alexander Zverev was in a good mood, after his confident jump over the first hurdle, he relaxed and threw a few balls into the audience, the German fans celebrated him loudly.
With a largely convincing performance, the Hamburg player made it into the second round of the US Open, and he also saved valuable energy in a smooth 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 4 against the Australian Aleksandar Vukic, who should not be underestimated: After 2:09 hours he ended the match with his 13th ace.
“For a first round, it was really, really good from me, very confident from start to finish, maybe just a short fluctuation in the third set,” said Zverev after the match at an unusual time for him. Starting at 11:00 a.m. is not his thing. “I don’t like getting up at 6:30 a.m., but then you have the whole day off and don’t have to wait all day for your matches.”
Zverev is looking forward to a duel with Altmaier
In the second round, Zverev meets Daniel Altmaier from Kempen, who after an unfortunate loss of the first set in 3:09 hours 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 3, 6: 1, 6: 2 against Constant Lestienne from France fought in the German duel. “I’m happy that Dominik is playing very, very well again, he’s been injured for a long time. He’s good enough to make it an interesting match,” said Zverev.
On the well-attended Court 17, with its 2800 seats the fourth largest place on the facility, Zverev quickly got going after slight initial difficulties against the 27-year-old Australian.
The number 50 in the world rankings kept up well at times, but was never able to faze Zverev. “I thought it would be difficult because he played very well recently. I’m very happy with how it went,” admitted the Olympic champion.
Zverev was not irritated by the very own smell on the system either. “The whole court smells like weed”, i.e. marijuana, he jokingly remarked and added: “The weed smelled very good.” However, his senses were not befuddled by this, apart from a loss of serve in the third set, Zverev was always in control of the situation, seemed concentrated, served strongly, played variably, and always came back to the net.
Korpatsch one lap further – Maria eliminated
Previously, Tamara Korpatsch from Hamburg was the first of nine German professionals in the main draw to advance to the second round. The 75th in the world rankings beat Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania in 83 minutes 6:3, 6:2. She played solidly for the most part, but her 33-year-old opponent, who is ranked 43rd in the WTA, made 39 unforced errors.
“It wasn’t clear to me that it was going to be so clear. I’m totally satisfied with my game, I played freely and without pressure,” said Korpatsch, who is only in the second round of a Grand Slam for the second time. She now meets number 14 seeded Lyudmila Samsonova from Russia, but is optimistic about the duel: “I can also play tennis quite well.”
Tatjana Maria, on the other hand, has already failed ten days after her tournament victory in Barranquilla, Colombia. The 36-year-old from Bad Saulgau had no chance in the 3: 6, 1: 6 against the Croatian Petra Martic.