US Open 2021: Zverev beats Harris - and waits for Djokovic in the semifinals
Alexander Zverev moved into the semifinals of the US Open 2021 after a tight first set. After the 7: 6 (6), 6: 3 and 6: 4 against Lloyd Harris it could now go against the world number one Novak Djokovic .
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 08, 2021, 10:09 pm
Here you can read the match in the live ticker!
Alexander Zverev is ready to make history. Or to prevent history, as the case may be. The Olympic champion from Tokyo showed a convincing performance after a happily won first set against Lloyd Harris and reached the semifinals of the US Open with a 7: 6 (6), 6: 3 and 6: 4 as in the previous year. There could be a meeting with Novak Djokovic, who is the clear favorite in the night session against Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday.
The crucial scene in this match may have happened at the end of the first sentence. Harris had given a 5: 3 lead after games, but led 6: 5 in the tiebreaker on his own serve. But referee Louise Engzell interrupted the match for just under a minute to change the picture on the big screens in the stadium. Zverev had complained, but a few minutes earlier. Harris lost three points in a row, thus the first set and then also the composure. The South African threw two drinking bottles on the ground, the referee and Zverev took part in the clean-up work.
# IMG2 #
Zverev in the possible semifinals against Djokovic only a slight outsider
After that he had absolutely no problems sailing into his second semifinals at the US Open. Harris couldn't keep his level, Zverev sprinkled extremely filigree serve volley variants in between. And, as usual, was in a hurry to get the match over the stage. Zverev rarely used the time to change sides. In the third act, Zverev dashed to a 4-0 lead, then became a bit careless. Harris came up again to 3: 4. But that was it when it came to catching up. After a playing time of a little more than two hours, Zverev served to move into the semifinals.
Should it actually come to the meeting of industry leader Novak Djokovic, who goes into his match against Berrettini with a 3-0 record, Alexander Zverev is not necessarily the outsider. Most recently, at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Djokovic had hardly any chances from the middle of the second set, but in Japan only two sets of wins were played. A success in the best-of-five format against Djokovic has recently been achieved by Rafael Nadal at the French Open 2020. Zverev himself has extremely challenged the world number one in the quarter-finals in Melbourne at the beginning of the year. And yet lost in four sentences.
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