French Open: Over five sets again

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As if he had won the title: Alexander Zverev after averting the second round

Photo: Christophe Ena/AP

Olympic champion Alexander Zverev averted the threatening second-round knockout at the French Open with great difficulty.

Third in the world rankings, he defeated Argentinian Sebastián Báez 2: 6, 4: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2, 7: 5 thanks to a clear increase in performance from the third set.

After 3:36 hours he converted his first match point.

"You can't play worse than in the first one and a half sentences," said Zverev after his victory.

"I'm happy that I was able to shoot the thing in the end."

Zverev did indeed show a poor performance for a sentence and a half.

The 25-year-old seemed unfocused and made numerous simple mistakes.

The conditions with a lot of wind on the Philippe Chatrier court did not seem to suit the German number one either, a long-annoyed Zverev gave up the first sentence after only 34 minutes.

In the second round, too, Báez quickly pulled away to 4-0 - then Zverev finally fought his way into the game and offered resistance to the Argentine, against whom he had won in two sets in Rome two weeks ago.

Although he was no longer able to turn Zverev's second set, he quickly got the third round.

Zverev also managed a quick break in the fourth set and a little later equalized the set.

In the fifth set, Zverev and Baez then fought a thrilling duel.

When the score was 4: 5, Zverev was only one point away from the end.

But he kept his nerve.

Zverev was thus spared another setback in what has been a mixed season so far, in which he has not yet been able to win a title.

He can continue the hunt for his first Grand Slam trophy, his next opponent will be determined in the duel between the American Brandon Nakashima and the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

First march through, then torture for Kerber

Angelique Kerber had previously reached the third round.

The German number one won against the French wild card player Elsa Jacquemot 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 2) and is playing for the round of 16 in Paris for the first time since 2018.

Her opponent on Friday is Alexandra Sasnovich of Belarus, who defeated British US Open champion Emma Raducanu 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Kerber defeated Sasnowitsch in three sets on their way to winning the title in Strasbourg last week.

"It was a tough match and it won't be easy," said Kerber after the 2:04 hour match and an equally exhausting opening duel on Monday.

Andrea Petkovic, on the other hand, was eliminated in the second round of the second Grand Slam tournament of the season.

The 34-year-old lost to Viktoria Asarenka from Belarus 1: 6, 6: 7 (3: 7).

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