French Open 2023: Zverev struggles against Harris in round two

As of 3:59 p.m | Reading time: 3 minutes

Alexander Zverev shook his head briefly, waved his hand and then showed a satisfied smile. Almost a year after his serious ankle injury, the tennis Olympic champion celebrated a successful, but still somewhat bumpy return to the French Open.

The 26-year-old initially had some trouble in the 7: 6 (8: 6), 7: 6 (7: 0), 6: 1 against Lloyd Harris on Tuesday, but finally reached the goal after 2:43 hours and the South African’s injury problems sovereign the second round. There Zverev meets the Slovak Alex Molcan, but has to improve significantly despite his renewed role as a favourite.

“It’s very, very nice to be back,” said Zverev on the pitch. “It was great fun out there.” However, he was not satisfied with his game. “But I’m satisfied that I won in three sets. I know I have to play better.”

Zverev delivers a show

There was no sign of fear of contact with the Roland Garros facility, which Boris Becker described for Zverev as a “place of horror” in view of the accident last year. Already after the second set, the former world number two used a break in treatment for the opponent for a small show, much to the delight of the spectators. He bounced the ball on his racket frame several times and had to smile. “The spectators are happy that he’s back with us and has won – that’s the most important headline,” said Eurosport expert Becker.

361 days ago, Zverev suffered a bad ankle injury in the semifinals of the clay court classic against the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and was out for more than half a year with multiple torn ligaments. Since his comeback at the end of last year, the Hamburg player has been looking for his old form and has not yet been able to win again against a top professional.

Also against the world number 294. For a long time, Zverev lacked consistency and security in gusty winds – only as the game went on did he dominate more and more. For Zverev it was the fourth win in the fourth duel with the 26-year-old South African.

Wearing a white cap, his father Alexander Zverev senior sat in the front row and cheered on as a trainer. This month the Hamburg player separated from the Spaniard Sergi Bruguera after “differences of opinion” in the direction, Zverev wishes for more courage in his own game. He wanted to “prove relatively promptly” to critics like Becker and Michael Stich that he could play at the top again.

Initially, however, the appearance on the Simonne-Mathieu court in the far west of the Stade Roland Garros was still characterized by some uncertainties. Zverev served with a strong quota, but still allowed himself plenty of unnecessary mistakes, especially in long rallies. In the second game he slipped slightly when the opponent stopped and had to support himself with his hand on the red ash.

When the score was 5: 5, Zverev fended off two breakballs. When the wailing of sirens blew from the surrounding streets on the Bois de Boulogne to the arena in the tie-break, Zverev thundered an overhead ball far out. A short time later, however, after 68 minutes he used the third set ball due to an opponent’s forehand error.

Harris was also absent for a long time last year due to an operation on his wrist and has to fight his way up the world rankings again. In his entire ATP career, the 26-year-old has only won six games on clay. But Zverev continued to struggle and was unable to put too much pressure on the South African when he served.

It was an emotional up and down. After fending off two set balls and making his first break, Zverev gave up his serve to zero with a 6: 5 lead. But Harris was struggling more and more with calf problems, so that Zverev secured the tie-break without the opponent gaining a point. Harris’ resistance was completely broken in the third set.