ATP Barcelona: Alexander Zverev meets a copy of himself
Alexander Zverev opens against Nicolas Jarry at the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona (second match after 12.30 p.m., live on SKY and in our match tracker). The Chilean has similar requirements as the German number one.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 23, 2019, 12:39 am
The circumstances under which Alexander Zverev and Nicolas Jarry meet at the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona are a little unusual. The German, placed second in the Catalan capital behind Rafael Nadal, had actually planned a short regeneration phase for the current week. The early defeat against Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo made Zverev appear reasonable in Barcelona.
Nicolas Jarry, on the other hand, had planned the appearance at the first major clay court event in Spain in 2019 for a long time - but probably not with a detour via the arduous qualification. The Chilean lost a bit of the thread after reaching the final in Hamburg last summer. The march to the top of the world expected by many observers has so far failed to materialize at Jarry. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old of the Chilean Davis Cup team with two individual victories in Salzburg in February against Austria made a significant contribution to a place at the final tournament in Madrid this November.
Kohlschreiber has withdrawn
Apart from the fact that Alexander Zverev can do every stroke better than Nicolas Jarry, both players bring a similar idea to the tennis court. Starting with the serve, which is particularly easy for the two 1.98 meter giants. Just as Jarry's forehand exudes a certain dominance, Alexander Zverev has clear advantages on the backhand side, but especially on the defensive.
In addition, in round one, Jarry had to struggle against local hero Marcel Granollers for three sets. In contrast, Zverev, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Saturday, is resting in his first encounter with the Chilean.
Brother Mischa Zverev is part of the David Ferrer farewell tour before the game of German number one. Philip Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, has canceled his start in Barcelona.