Alexander Zverev clearly improved in the third round of the Australian Open. He hardly gives the young Alex Michelsen a chance.
Alexander Zverev clenched his fist, tore his hairband off his head and thanked the audience with relief: With a clearly improved performance, the Hamburg resident stormed into the round of 16 of the Australian Open and underlined his title ambitions in Melbourne for the first time.
“Before the game, my father put his hand on my shoulder and said: ‘Nobody wants to see you play tennis until three o’clock,'” Zverev said with a laugh after the confident 6:2, 7:6 (7:4) , 6:2 against the young American Alex Michelsen, in which he appeared much more hardened and stable in the last match of the day than in the first two rounds.
In the hunt for his first Grand Slam title, Zverev’s first real test awaits Zverev in the round of 16 in 19th-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie.
“He’s playing brilliantly so far, I watched his game against Casper Ruud. He’s in top form and I’m looking forward to playing against him,” said Zverev, who is in the round of 16 of the first major tournament of the year for the fifth time.
Becker about Zverev: “His best performance so far”
Against the inexperienced 19-year-old Michelsen, number 91 in the world, Zverev was attentive and strong from the start, and after just 36 minutes he grabbed the first set with an ace.
The Olympic champion also appeared more relaxed afterwards and kept his nerve in the tiebreak of the second set. “He plays like number six in the world. This is his best performance so far,” said Boris Becker during the second set on Eurosport.
In the third set, Zverev didn’t let the victory be taken away from him; Michelsen seemed increasingly unsettled and had nothing left to counter him. After around two hours of play, Zverev used his first match point shortly after midnight and moved into the round of 16 in Melbourne for the fifth time.
Zverev fought his way into the third round on the Yarra River with difficulty; in his second round match against the Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein, he only averted an early exit in the tiebreak of the fifth set. As sixth in the world rankings, the Hamburger Down Under is one of the extended favorites. His best result so far in Melbourne is reaching the semi-finals in 2020.
2024-01-20 13:19:00
#improved #Alexander #Zverev #Australian #Open
