Alexander Zverev has to survive a shock in the third round of Wimbledon. The best German tennis player falls – and now has the chance to achieve his best London result.
After a brief moment of shock, Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev is now making his quarter-final debut in Wimbledon. The top German player moved into the round of 16 with a confident 6:4, 6:4, 7:6 (17:15) win in the third round against Briton Cameron Norrie, despite a fall. The top German player has thus already equalled his best Wimbledon result.
At the end, there was tension as to whether Zverev would have to give up a set for the first time in the tournament in the unusually long tiebreak. But with the sixth match point, the Hamburg native managed to secure the next victory on the hoped-for path to his first Grand Slam title.
“On grass, I sometimes feel like a cow on ice. I feel restricted in some movements,” said Zverev about his fall and announced that he would have his leg checked. He was extremely happy about the victory. “It is an incredible honor to play on Centre Court and in front of the Royal Box,” said Zverev and addressed a few words to football coach Pep Guardiola, whom he had seen sitting there.
Zverev slips on the grass
After winning the first set with ease, Zverev had to deal with a shock at the start of the second set in front of almost 15,000 spectators on Centre Court. With the score at 2:2, he slipped on the grass, overstretched his leg and lay there with a face contorted in pain.
For just a split second, memories of his serious foot injury from the 2022 French Open semifinal against Spaniard Rafael Nadal were awakened. This time, Zverev held his left knee. Although a physiotherapist came onto the court, Zverev even waived a medical timeout and continued playing shortly afterwards.
With bandage under the left knee
The world number four then tried to make contact with his box a few times. But he still secured the next break to make it 5:4 and screamed his joy. At the change of ends, the German number one called the physiotherapist over again, but only spoke to him. Only when the second set was over did he have a bandage put on below his left knee.
Zverev was allowed to play against the last remaining British hopeful in the men’s singles for the first time at this year’s Wimbledon on Centre Court. He went onto the court knowing that he had mastered all five previous tasks against Norrie. In Australia at the start of the season, however, he was close to being eliminated against the left-hander and only managed to prevail in the tiebreak of the fifth set.
Zverev likes the indoor atmosphere
“There we played on hard court in 30 degrees. Here we play on grass. It’s a completely different match,” the 2020 US Open finalist had previously said: “If I can continue to show the level that I showed in the first two matches, then I like my chances.”
As in the two previous Wimbledon matches, the roof of the hall was closed because of the rain that kept coming. The conditions were therefore suitable for Zverev. A key to Zverev’s game was once again his strong serve, he didn’t allow a single break chance. The third set was evenly matched until the end.
When he won the match 6:5, the left-handed Norrie surprised him with a cheeky serve from below. The German number one had to go into a tiebreak for the first time in the tournament and kept his nerve despite having five set points against him.
The top German player thus escaped the fate of last year, when he was eliminated in the third round by the Italian Matteo Berrettini. For the third time after 2017 and 2021, he is now in the round of the best 16 at the grass classic in London. In the fight for a place in the quarterfinals, Zverev will face the American Taylor Fritz or Alejandro Tabilo from Chile on Monday.
Source: Stern
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