Tennis: Zverev struggles to win in the heat of Rio

Tennis-ace Alexander Zverev only gotten justice to his favorite role at the start of the ATP tournament in Rio de Janeiro. In the heat of the Brazilian metropolis, the top seeded Hamburger defeated the Chinese Bu Yunchchaokete 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 4. In order to secure the first title of the year at the clay court tournament, however, an increase in performance is required for the upcoming tasks.

“I love it when it is really hot,” Zverev said before his premiere at the 500 tournament on the Atlantic coast. “In the heat the ball jumps off faster and higher, that’s me.” And it got really hot: On Monday, Rio had the hottest day of the last decade with 44 degrees Celsius, at 7 p.m. local time at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Burglary after a strong start

Zverev started strongly, brought his own service confidently and took the first surcharge directly from number 69 in the world rankings. But at the stand of 4: 2 and 40: 0, the Hamburg suddenly collapsed and gave three games in a row. In this phase, his surcharge completely let him down, which was reflected in two double errors, among other things.

But the world ranking second bit back into the match, fought off a chinese set ball and secured the first round in the tiebreak. In the second set, both opponents could initially no break. After all, it was Zverev who used the first and only break ball to 5: 4 – and then ended the game with the second match ball.

In the round of 16, Zverev meets Alexander Schewchenko from Kazakhstan on Thursday night. The 103rd of the ATP ranking prevailed in two sets against the Brazilian Wild-Card starter Felipe Meligeni Alves.