Alexander Zverev has reached the quarterfinals at the US Open for the third time in a row in a tennis thriller. The Olympic champion prevailed early on Tuesday morning (local time) after 4:41 hours 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3 against the slightly favored Italian Jannik Sinner. Zverev now meets defending champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.
The duel against Sinner was accompanied by a severe verbal derailment by a spectator. “He said the most well-known Hitler sentence,” said Zverev in the middle of the fourth sentence and pointed in the direction of the stands. “That’s unacceptable, that’s unbelievable.” On television, the fan could be heard shouting “Deutschland über alles”, a reference to the first verse of the national anthem, which is frowned upon in Germany. It’s not a Hitler quote. The Nazi troops marched into many European countries to the tune of “Germany, Germany above all”. Since then the verse has had the smell of nationalism and German world-conquest mania. The text was not expressly forbidden. But when the anthem of the Federal Republic was established in 1952, only the third verse could be sung on official occasions.
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Referee James Keothavong had the man identified in the lower tier of Arthur Ashe Stadium during the ensuing break, with other spectators pointing in his direction. When the score was 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2, 3: 2, the spectators left the stands accompanied by security forces.
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The 26-year-old from Hamburg and his opponent, who was four years younger, were plagued by physical problems during the gripping match when the temperature started at 27 degrees and the humidity was high. For Zverev it is the tenth quarterfinal participation in a Grand Slam tournament, so he drew level with Michael Stich. Only Boris Becker (23) managed to do this more often in the professional era for men as a German tennis player.
Zverev stuffed his soaked shoes with Klop paper
Completely exhausted, Zverev spread his arms after the triumph, enjoyed the cheering of the fans and roared his joy in the New York night sky. He had converted the match point at 1.40 a.m. “It’s one of the best moments of my career,” Zverev enthused: “It’s what I live for, I love it. I would have been happy if we had played a little shorter.”
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In the stifling air in the arena, both players fought to the death. Zverev cools his head and neck with ice and changed his soaked clothes and shoes several times. He stuffed the unused shoes with toilet paper to remove the moisture. At times, Sinner could barely walk, but got back up. In the end, the superior physique was the decisive factor for Zverev.
In his 14th attempt at a Grand Slam, he celebrated only the second victory over a player from the top ten in the world rankings. The only one of these successes before was the Hamburger against his next opponent Alcaraz at the French Open 2022. The 20-year-old Spaniard is in great form at this US Open and easily won his round of 16 against 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 4 the Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
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More than 23,000 spectators ensured a sizzling atmosphere in the world’s largest tennis stadium. “It’s great to play here and enjoy the atmosphere,” enthused Zverev just before entering the pitch. The sympathies were slightly divided in favor of Sinner. The fans saw a balanced opening phase. Both players initially looked for their best form. Zverev made the break to 3: 2, but immediately gave up his serve. The Carota Boys, a Sinner fan group in orange carrot costumes, celebrated the equalizer with loud chants in the arena’s middle tier.
In the gripping but not always high-quality opening set, seven out of ten games went beyond the debut. The ninth game alone lasted more than ten minutes. Zverev took the serve from Sinner with a strong backhand, with two aces the Hamburger got the round after 69 minutes.
Fitness was a key factor in the conditions
But the sense of achievement did not bring security at first. After a double fault, Zverev conceded the quick break. Sinner had treatment on his right leg, but initially continued to move smoothly, reducing his immense error rate and becoming more active. After an hour and a half, Zverev changed his shoes and dried the sweaty pair with paper. It didn’t help, Sinner got the set with an ace.
Despite the open roof, the climate remained oppressive – and fitness was a factor. Zverev was on the pitch for more than nine and a half hours in the previous three games, Sinner more than two hours less. But the Italian, who was four years his junior, moved more and more sluggishly, stretching the back of his left thigh again and again. After losing the serve to make it 2: 4, Sinner limped to the bank and seemed to have a cramp. Zverev sympathetically grabbed his back. The Hamburger won four games in a row, a net roller sealed the win of the third set. Both players disappeared to the toilet for a long time.
Suddenly Zverev also had problems. After rallies, the 26-year-old took a deep breath, kept grimacing and was struck. It took around 16 minutes for Zverev to break through his first service game of set four. After the fuss about the spectator being kicked out, Sinner looked fresher again, the Italian forced the decisive sentence.
It stayed dramatic. Zverev stumbled, fell, but was unhurt. A little later he celebrated the 3-0 lead after a great point, the audience cheered. But Sinner remained stubborn. The resistance was only broken after more than four and a half hours, Zverev was allowed to cheer.
