EIt wasn’t as if Alexander Zverev didn’t know how tricky this task could be. Something like that is “always difficult”, Germany’s best tennis player had said before the first round match at the French Open against his compatriot Oscar Otte. After all, he only got into the main field of the Grand Slam tournament through qualification. So Otte had already played three matches at Roland Garros – and won all three. “He’s really well rehearsed,” said Zverev.
The 24-year-old probably didn’t expect how right he should be. Because the blatant outsider Otte initially played big in the evening hours. Zverev, one of the co-favorites this year had to go the full distance and bend a 0: 2 set deficit. Ultimately, thanks to his superior physique, he still won 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 0.
At the beginning of the Suzanne Lenglen court, Zverev faced an unleashed opponent. Otte, number 152 in the world rankings, took advantage of the greater match practice and showed no teething problems. Otte had only qualified for a Grand Slam tournament twice – but both times at the French Open. In 2019 he at least survived the first round.
Courageous outsider: Oscar Otte caused great problems for Alexander Zverev for two sentences.
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Bild: AP
Otte played bravely. He looked for the offensive and regularly connected to the network. He sprinkled in stops, served well. For two sentences he managed almost anything. Zverev, on the other hand, didn’t even play particularly badly, but was still overrun. He barely even managed to take the initiative in the rallies himself. Instead, the strong server gave up his service four times in the first two rounds.
Only in the third round, when darkness slowly fell over Paris, did the picture change. Now Zverev increasingly dictated the points. His gaze became more determined, his game more purposeful. The world number six confidently secured the second and third set. Also because Otte was visibly tired after two hours of play. The match was finally overturned, Otte’s will broken. After 2:52 hours, Zverev transformed his first match ball and built an impressive record: In the seventh five-set match at the French Open, it was his seventh victory.
Unlike Zverev, another co-favorite fared. The Austrian Dominic Thiem, US Open Champion and twice in the finals in Paris, lost this time in his first game. Against the Spaniard Pablo Andujar, Thiem had a 2-0 lead with 6: 4, 7: 5, 3: 6, 4: 6, 4: 6. Thiem would have been a possible quarter-final opponent for Zverev. Its way to the semi-finals is now an easy one on paper. But that was Oscar Otte too.
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