Tennis: Zverev fights his way into the next round in Paris

Alexander Zverev averted an early setback in the race to take part in the ATP finals at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.

The Olympic tennis champion defeated the Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 4:6, 7:5, 6:4 and narrowly avoided an impending first round exit. After a long disappointing performance, the ninth in the world rankings will now face the Frenchman Ugo Humbert or the US professional Marcos Giron.

“A very difficult match”

“It was a very difficult match,” said the 26-year-old from Hamburg. Just a few points would have made the difference. “He played incredibly well,” he praised his opponent. “In the end I found my level and I’m happy about that.”

Zverev is still fighting to qualify for the ATP Finals, the season finale for the eight best professionals of the year in Turin from November 12th to 19th. He has not yet secured his place in seventh place and could be overtaken by, among others, the Dane Holger Rune, who is now trained by tennis icon Boris Becker, or the US professional Taylor Fritz.

Zverev was far from his best tennis for a long time in his first round game. He couldn’t find his rhythm and was ranked 52nd in the world rankings. Fucsovics doesn’t cope. Zverev gave up the decisive serve game to make it 4:6 in the first set and made a double fault on the set point. In the second set, Zverev threatened to fall behind again with a break. Only at the end of the round did he improve and win.

Zverev said he had never played on a court where the balls bounce so flat. “His slice was effective. I usually like it when people slice against me,” he said of the undercut balls: “But I didn’t know what to do on the rubber.” He had only trained once on Center Court before. That’s why he still has to get used to the place.

Tableau