Relief For Zverev, Survives A Scare In Paris

Alexander Zverev, one of the best performers on clay courts this year, survived a scare on Wednesday at Roland Garros.

In a match of momentum shifts, the second-seeded German did not play his best tennis in the second round, but recovered from a set and 1-3 deficit to work his way past Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in three hours and 24 minutes.

Zverev struck 42 winners, but committed 53 unforced errors and was broken five times to equal his best performance in the French capital (2014). He has now won 18 of his past 20 matches and is one victory away from 150 career wins (149-78).

The 21-year-old will next prepare to face Bosnia and Herzegovina’s No. 26 seed Damir Dzumhur on Friday. Dzumhur fought back from a 2-4 deficit in the fifth set to beat Radu Albot of Moldova 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5 in three hours and 47 minutes.

Lajovic barely put a foot wrong in the opener, hitting seven winners and clinching all four of his net points. He bounced back from 0/40 at 5-2, then broke Zverev en route to a 3-1 lead in the second set.

But Zverev began to find his rhythm, particularly on his double-handed backhand, and capitalised on mental fatigue from Lajovic. Zverev let out a celebratory scream upon securing the set – courtesy of a Lajovic groundstroke error.

Lajovic regrouped impressively, and, after an early exchange of breaks, won four out of five games from 2-3 to seize control. Incredibly, Zverev triggered back into life and from 1-1 in the fourth set, the German won the next nine games for a 4-0 lead in the decider.

Zverev has a 32-8 match record on the year, including two successive titles – the BMW Open by FWU (d. Kohlschreiber) and his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Thiem). He also finished as runner-up during the European clay-court swing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal).

His best showing in 11 previous Grand Slam championship appearances is a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon in 2017.

Lajovic, who beat Jiri Vesely in the first round, recently advanced to his first Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open, which included victories over Richard Gasquet and Juan Martin del Potro.

Did You Know?
Alexander Zverev made his Grand Slam championship debut at Wimbledon in 2015. With a 16-11 overall match record at the majors, his best performance came last year at S.W.19 when he fell to Milos Raonic in the fourth round.

Visit Official Roland-Garros Website