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Alexander Zverev struggled hard
Photo:
ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
Alexander Zverev barely survived the second round of the French Open.
Against Pierre-Hugues Herbert the German number one won 2: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 5), 4: 6, 6: 4.
The next opponent of the 23-year-old hamburger is Marco Cecchinato, who reached the semifinals in Paris in 2018.
Zverev seemed at a loss for a long time against the number 78 in the world, had given the first sentence after 40 minutes.
Herbert, who has already won all four Grand Slam tournaments in doubles, made a strong return, put Zverev under pressure with many network attacks and also annoyed the world number seven with stop balls again and again.
The 23-year-old was also 1: 4 behind in the second set before he found his game.
As a result, he managed his service games, took two from Herbert and decided the second round with the first set ball for himself.
In a balanced third set with no loss of game on both sides, Zverev again converted the first set point in the tie-break.
At the beginning of the fifth sentence, Zverev shows nerves, even went over the network after a second doubted decision and got boos for this action.
Then he recovered and pulled away with a break and 3-0.
But the duel took another turn and local hero Herbert fought his way up.
After just under four hours, Zverev transforms his first of three match balls.
Nadal and Thiem also continue
The two top favorites Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem have reached the third round without much effort.
The twelve-time Paris champion Nadal outclassed the American Mackenzie McDonald 6: 1, 6: 0, 6: 3.
The 34-year-old Spanish tennis professional was never challenged and only needed 1:40 hours for his 25th success in Paris.
US Open Champion Thiem only had a few difficulties in the 6: 1, 6: 3, 7: 6 (8: 6) against the American Jack Sock in the third round and had to fend off three set balls.
But after 2:22 hours, the Austrian used his first match ball.
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sak / dpa / sid
