Australian Open: Alexander Zverev wins - but has to stretch against Altmaier
Alexander Zverev (ATP No. 3) has reached the second round at the Australian Open. Against compatriot Daniel Altmaier, however, he had to pull off a concentrated performance. (You can read the match in the live ticker.)
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 17, 2022, 01:16 pm
Zverev won 7: 6 (3), 6: 1 and 7: 6 (1), but had given everything, especially in the first and third sets. Altmaier played his usual game with the "Heavy Spin", but rarely managed to play through against the well-defending Zverev, in the end he often overturned.
However, the 23-year-old kept up well at the beginning, fending off three set balls when the score was 4:5 and his own serve - one after a rally of 33 strokes. In the tiebeak, Zverev then made the decisive mini breaks to make it 4: 2 and 5: 2 and took one of them to win the set.
After a quick second set, the world number 87 caught himself again and made his first break of the game to 3: 2, but Zverev managed the rebreak to 4: 4, even if Altmaier was initially able to turn a 0:40. Shortly before the end, Altmaier fended off another 0:40 and saved himself in another tie-break, where Zverev quickly led again and pulled away.
Zverev strong on the serve
Altmaier only get 17 winners with 40 mistakes without need; at Zverev the balance looked better at 53:43. Among them were 14 aces - especially on the first service, Zverev was almost untouchable with a win rate of 88 percent. Overall, he only allowed one break chance (which Altmaier took) but created 18 chances for himself to take the serve from his opponent. The match would have gone smoother if he hadn't just used 4.
Zverev meets Australian local hero John Millman in the second round, who beat veteran Feliciano Lopez in four sets. Lopez, as he then explains, only arrived hours before his match due to a corona disease.
For the men'ssingle draw,For the women's single draw
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