Alexander Zverev has reached the second round of the Australian Open after a bad start. Last year’s finalist beat Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6:7 (1:7), 6:1, 6:4, 6:2 in Melbourne. After the match, Zverev spoke of a bumpy start, but was satisfied with his level as the game progressed.
The Hamburger initially had big problems in the first round with Diallo, who initially appeared very self-confident. The Canadian, who is over two meters tall, impressed with a strong serve game, powerful forehand strokes and several well-placed stops. Zverev seemed unsteady in the first set, got a break early on and lost the tiebreak significantly despite catching up in the meantime. His body language also initially raised doubts.
However, after losing the first round, Zverev found his way into the match better. His serve stabilized and early breaks in the second set brought security. The set was equalized after just 31 minutes. As a result, the German consistently took advantage of his opponent’s increasing mistakes, remained focused and also won the third and fourth sets.
Zverev happy with development
After 2:43 hours, Zverev converted his match point and moved into the second round in Melbourne for the tenth time in a row. “The first set wasn’t my best tennis, but after that I felt very good. I’m happy with the level,” he said in an interview. After the difficult start, he thought, “It can’t get any worse,” but then things went much better.
In the next round, Zverev will face another unseeded opponent. He will either play against the Australian Alexei Popyrin or the French Alexandre Müller, who have yet to compete against each other.
Zverev is making his 40th attempt at a Grand Slam title in Melbourne. On Sunday he was the only top German player in action. Yannick Hanfmann will also take part in the tournament later in the day and will play against US qualifier Zachary Svajda.
