Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has won two games in a row for the first time since his comeback. At the ATP tournament in Dubai, the 25-year-old won his round of 16 against Australian Christopher O’Connell 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday (03/01/2023) and thus made it into the quarter-finals.
Two days earlier, the German number one had defeated the Czech Jiri Lehecka in three sets. In the fight for the semi-finals, Zverev is now faced with a real endurance test: It’s either against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Zverev needed a while on the second largest court in the facility to get going. The native of Hamburg was very stable on his own serve, but he initially had major problems with O’Connell’s service. Only when the score was 5:5 did he earn his first breakballs and immediately used the first one. After 41 minutes he got the first set a little later.
Foot injury in June
The Hamburg player’s serve remained stable in the second set, and he only made a few mistakes. As he converted his second match point, Zverev shouted a loud “Yes!” out and he raised his fist.
At the beginning of June last year, Zverev suffered a serious foot injury in the semifinals of the French Open against Rafael Nadal and was then out for around seven months. Since his return to the tennis tour, Zverev has been struggling, above all he lacks consistency in performance.
