In the round of 16 at the US Open, Alexander Zverev only had problems in the first set. After that, he survived a moment of shock and a plague of flies. Now he has the chance for revenge.
Alexander Zverev strolled through the darkness of New York in Olympic flip-flops and was already looking forward to the chance for revenge at the US Open. After confidently reaching the quarterfinals over American Brandon Nakashima, the 2021 Olympic champion now wants to do better against Taylor Fritz than he did in the bitter Wimbledon exit almost two months ago.
“I’m looking forward to another tough fight,” said Zverev about the upcoming duel with the US professional on the way to the hoped-for first Grand Slam title. “I expect it to be another very, very tough match, a nice battle – hopefully with a different result than in Wimbledon.”
With the 3:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:2 in the round of 16 against the outsider Nakashima, Zverev not only celebrated his 450th victory on the ATP Tour. The 27-year-old also qualified early for the ATP Finals of the best eight players of the season in mid-November. With temperatures initially at 28 degrees and high humidity, Zverev survived a weak phase in the first set, a moment of shock when he twisted his ankle in the fourth set and a sudden invasion of flies shortly before the end without any damage.
Zverev waves away flying “giant things”
When the insects flew through the Louis Armstrong Stadium in droves, Zverev had to stop serving. He waved them away and pulled one out from under his sleeveless shirt. “They were huge things, I saw them here for the first time,” he reported. “They weren’t mosquitoes, they weren’t bees – I don’t know what they were: flying ants or something?”
Zverev did not let himself be thrown off course. Not even when the Hamburg player sprained his right foot at 3:1 in the last set and limped for a short time. However, without any permanent visible impairment, he showed no weaknesses until the match point was converted after 2 hours and 36 minutes.
All clear after moment of shock
After the match, Zverev, who had been out for months in 2022 with a serious ankle injury, gave the all-clear: “I took a strange step, twisted my ankle slightly. But everything is fine, nothing to worry about.”
This means that Zverev will probably be spared the same fate as in the grass court classic. He went into the Wimbledon round of 16 against Fritz with a knee injury from the previous match. “Now I’m healthy, that’s the big difference,” he stressed. Fritz beat the number eight seed Norwegian Casper Ruud 3:6, 6:4, 6:3, 6:2 and is in the quarterfinals in New York for the second time.
Fritz expects a close match
The German has won five of nine duels with the world number 12 – but in their last encounter at Wimbledon, the American managed to turn a two-set deficit into victory. “It’s always back and forth between us,” said the 26-year-old in New York about his sporting rivalry with Zverev. “We play close matches. It can go either way. A lot depends on the serve.”
In the round of 16, Zverev’s serve was going well. The 1.98 meter tall giant only conceded a break in the first set and did not allow world number 50 Nakashima another chance to break his serve in the entire match.
“He didn’t let himself get upset after losing the first set. What he celebrated in the third and fourth sets is something I haven’t seen from him for a long time,” said Boris Becker as an expert on Sportdeutschland.TV about Zverev’s performance against Nakashima. “That was tennis at the highest level.”
But Zverev will have to show this earlier to have a chance at the title later in the US Open. Against Nakashima, the German number one only used the ninth break point to make it 2-0 in the second set. Nakashima clearly lost ground, and Zverev became more and more confident, as he had in the third round against the Argentinian Tomás Martin Etcheverry after losing the first set. He pulled away confidently, countering his opponent’s attacks again and again with precise passing shots.
Fresh to victory with new shoes
After winning the second set, he went to get a new pair of shoes from his father and coach Alexander Zverev Senior, very sweaty. After changing, things went even better. Nakashima could no longer find a way to counter Zverev’s powerful baseline play.
At the beginning of the fourth round, the 23-year-old American briefly rose up again, but by the time he broke to 1:2, all resistance had been broken. Zverev played his game with great self-confidence and was able to celebrate. “I’m very happy that I’m through,” he said on the court. Now he’s hoping for three more victories and thus his first Grand Slam triumph. “I’m doing everything I can. I’m giving it my all, hopefully that will happen at some point in my career.”
Source: Stern
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