Australian Open: Alexander Zverev after fight Jeremy Chardy in round three
Alexander Zverev is in the third round of the Australian Open 2019. The German defeated Jeremy Chardy in five sets and now meets local hero Alex Bolt.
by tennisnet
last edit: Jan 17, 2019, 02:16 pm
Alexander Zverev's second success in Melbourne, but this time he had to fight a lot harder: German number one, placed fourth at the Australian Open 2019, won against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (5), 6-4, 5: 7, 6: 7 (6) and 6: 1. Zverev will play against Alex Bolt for the knockout round on Saturday. The Australian had surprisingly prevailed against Gilles Simon from France.
Zverev and Chardy could only start their match one hour after the scheduled start time, no problem for the Hamburg native. He is a self-confessed late riser. The first set went as far as the tie break, where Zverev scored his third set point with his own serve after 51 minutes. In round two, the 21-year-old was given an early break, which he defended until 6: 4.
Chardy uses Zverev's short phase of weakness
All the more surprising the break from Chardy to 4: 2 in the third act, supported by a double mistake Zverevs. The favorite felt disturbed by a spectator on serve, but immediately equalized. In the eleventh game, Zverev was unable to use a total of four breakballs. A few moments later, Chardy suddenly found two set balls - and used the second by Zverev putting a forehand ball off.
In the fourth set, Zverev missed too many chances, especially in the seventh game, when Chardy just saved as a server to 4: 3. After all, the ATP finals winner from last November was also able to rely on his serve in the Margaret Court Arena, at least in this phase. Until the twelfth game: Zverev gave his opponent two chances to equalize with a backhand error after exactly three hours of play. And did not fend off the second unhappily. Chardy awarded the third himself, again a tie break had to decide.
Opponent Bolt also had to over five sets
Chardy presented twice with a mini break, the sides were changed at 4-2 for the French. Zverev came back, got his first match point with two strong serves. Chardy fought back. 3:14 hours after the first serve of the match, the Frenchman was happy about the 8: 6. And about a fifth sentence. No new territory for Jeremy Chardy in Melbourne 2019 - already in lap one he had to go the full distance against Ugo Humbert.
Zverev knew how to take advantage of that. The German quickly took the lead 4-0, fending off two break balls at this score. And went off as the winner after 3:47 hours of play.
However, it was nothing with a simple second match, after Zverev did not stay long at the start with Aljaz Bedene. The good news: his upcoming opponent Alex Bolt also had to fight hard, stood against Gilles Simon for more than four hours on the court.