Alexander Zverev fails in the third round of Wimbledon. The Italian Matteo Berrettini gives him no chance.
by SID
last edited: 07/08/2023, 10:42 p.m
Alexander Zverev tried everything. He served strongly, he fought a duel at eye level with Matteo Berrettini – but in the end he had no chance and the result was clear. 3: 6, 6: 7 (4: 7), 6: 7 (5: 7), the Olympic champion lost his third round match at the 136th All England Championships against the 27-year-old Italian and his elemental power.
Zverev couldn’t blame himself, but he seemed to be constantly on the defensive in the 2:27 match, especially when Berrettini served. If the 2021 finalist didn’t hit an ace, Zverev had trouble returning the ball well. The hamburger also served very well – but Berrettini, number 38 in the world rankings, brutally exploited his few wobbles.
Zverev was aware that it would be difficult. Although his opponent has had a bad phase, after training together before the start of the tournament, he admitted: “He’s really good again.” And: “He’s one of the best lawn players.”
Short breaks in rain don’t bother Berrettini
A very realistic assessment. It was not by chance that Berrettini was in the Wimbledon final in 2021, his game with strong service and a cracking forehand is made for grass. Until the match against Zverev, he had only allowed five breakballs – and fended them all off.
Berrettini allowed the sixth breakball in the first game, but Zverev couldn’t take the chance – and he didn’t get another one afterwards. A circumstance that made him look frustrated and helpless in his box after the fifth and seventh game.
But no help came out of the box. His opponent stayed cool on his own serve, Zverev, who also served well, suffered a little slack in the eighth game – Berrettini didn’t need to be asked twice: break. The first set was gone after 33 minutes.
Only when the score was 4: 4, 30:30 in the second set was Zverev allowed to take a deep breath and rearrange himself: the announced rain came, the court had to be covered, the roof over Court 1 was then closed and the lawn dried. After 50 minutes we continued.
Berrettini finishes match with 15th ace
With strong serves from both players up to the tie-break, in which Berrettini acted a bit more determined and confident and got a “mini-break” early on. Again he offered Zverev nothing on his serve, he ended the set with his eighth ace.
After that, there was only a rudimentary hope of a turnaround. In the third game of the third set, Berrettini was 0:30 behind – an ace, two “unforced errors” by Zverev and a serve “winner” later, this tender little plant was also nipped in the bud. Or in the seventh game: It was 40 both – the Italian hit a “winner” and an ace. Then, tiebreak again. One last time, Zverev wobbled too much. Then it was over with ace number 15.
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Zverev Alexander
2023-07-08 20:39:36
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