Alexander Zverev remains on the double course. Three days after triumphing at the first tournament, a lack of concentration cost him a confident start to the second event in the Lanxess Arena.
Alexander Zverev keeps an eye on the double in the cathedral city despite a bumpy start to the second tournament. Three days after his triumph at the premiere event in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena, Germany’s best tennis professional won his round of 16 against the Australian John Millman 6: 0, 3: 6, 6: 3. A reckless service game at the beginning of the second set let the underdog come back into the game.
After 1:55 hours, Zverev managed the last point of the game, his brother Mischa had less trouble with Millman in round one last week. “He’s just better than me,” joked Zverev, who was also annoyed that he hadn’t won the match any easier: “In the first set it went really well, then I lost focus.”
He will quickly forget the three double mistakes that forced Zverev to detour via the third round (there were ten in total), the quarter-finals against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino await on Friday, and he is still in doubles with Mischa, who is ten years older than him in the race.
A delightful game is on the program for the Zverevs: on Thursday they will meet the French Open winners Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, who benefited from the task of the Spaniards Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Fernando Verdasco. For the best German double, it is the first appearance since their sensational title defense in Paris.
Struff meets Nishioka next
Zverev had spent the days between the sovereign final victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime and his next single appearance in the ATP bubble, drove from the hotel to the hall and back again. A distraction was still provided: Zverev met Leon Draisaitl, who was born in Cologne, during show training, and the 23-year-old drove boredom away with the best ice hockey player in the world. Against Millman, he made it exciting himself.
Zverev’s Davis Cup colleague Jan-Lennard Struff and Lucky Loser Oscar Otte want to keep him company in the round of the best eight, they have to prevail on Thursday. After his opening win over the Italian Marco Cecchinato (6: 3, 6: 1), Struff will face Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan), the Cologne-born Otte will face the second-placed Argentinian Schwartzman.
“I really wanted to win the match, even if there weren’t any fans, after all, we’re playing here in Germany,” said Struff: “I hope that we will be able to play in front of a full stadium again at some point. At the moment there is no change at all Not easy for viewers and only a few viewers. “
At the beginning of the first week of the tournament, up to 800 tennis fans had come to the Lanxess-Arena, then the Cologne health department intervened. The huge hall, in which the Kölner Haie usually play ice hockey in front of up to 18,000 spectators, is now almost deserted and will remain so up to and including the final weekend.
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