Tennis: Next defeat: Zverev misses quarter -finals in Miami

With the round of 16, Alexander Zverev had to put on a sporting setback again at the Tennis Masters tournament in Miami. The world ranking second lost 6: 3, 3: 6, 4: 6 against the Frenchman Arthur Fils. The round of 16 had been postponed for rain by one day to Wednesday.

After the final entry at the Australian Open, Zverev has not yet been able to build on the form from the beginning of the year and has not reached the decisive phase since then at any tournament. In Miami he had recently shown better performance and seemed back on the way up.

After recently fought duels against Fils, who snapped the title in Hamburg in the final last year, a balanced game developed again. After the break to 5: 3, the Olympic champion brought his own serve to win the number 18 in the world with some effort.

The lead in the third set not used

After that, the 27-year-old’s error rate increased considerably, a faster 0: 3 deficit was the result. The now significantly stronger Fils then easily managed to compensate for the sentence.

In the crucial round, Zverev was 3: 1 ahead after a break, but immediately released this lead and was then 3: 5 behind. Too often the native of Hamburg looked too passive and came under pressure. After two hours, the second defeat against Fils was determined in the fifth duel.

After the lost final in Melbourne, Zverev collected bitter defeats in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco. At the Masters event in Indian Wells in early March, he had recently left the start.