- Zverev emerges victorious in domestic clash during US Open competition
Alexander Zverev gave his Olympic buddy Maximilian Marterer a pat on the back and grinned, having emerged victorious from a tough test. With some struggle, the German native claimed the German duel in New York 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2, securing a spot in the second round. After 2 hours and 53 minutes, Zverev clinched his first match point in a challenging encounter with numerous blunders on both sides. Up next for him is the victor of the match between Frenchman Alexandre Muller and Australian Adam Walton.
"It wasn't a walk in the park, he's familiar with me and even stayed with me at the Olympics. It was a tricky contest," shared Zverev.
Particularly in the second set, the 2021 Olympic tennis champion experienced some rough patches and was far from his best form for his initial major title attempt. With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, Zverev committed numerous unforced errors, tossed his racket away, and clashed with his box, where his mom Irina and girlfriend Sophia Thomalla initially sat. Typically, she finds watching her son's games in person too nerve-wracking.
Marterer and Zverev shared a room at the Olympics
Initially, Marterer, the world No. 100, failed to secure a spot in the US Open and only made it to the main draw due to the withdrawal of Finnish player Emil Ruusuvuori. During the Olympics in Paris, the 29-year-old Marterer and the younger Zverev shared a double room in the German tennis pros' dormitory in the Olympic Village.
Zverev was unable to maintain his recent upward trend in form. His encouraging run at the Masters-1000 tournament in Cincinnati, despite a close three-set loss in the semifinals against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, was commendable. However, the 2021 Olympic gold medalist in Paris and in Montreal let fans down and disclosed physical issues like dizziness and coughing. In the New York heat, Zverev displayed no apparent signs of discomfort externally.
Promising start for Zverev
Zverev commenced the match with promise. Three minutes into the match, he broke his opponent's serve for the first time thanks to a backhand error from Marterer and maintained a strong service game. He fended off a break point from the underdog in the first set, securing the set with an ace despite some wayward forehand hits in prolonged baseline rallies.
As the competition evened out, Marterer held his own in terms of speed. Nevertheless, Zverev's first serve percentage and, consequently, the frequency of quick points diminished. He managed to recover a break, but in the tiebreak, the favorite scrutinized missed shots, and a double fault at 5-6 led to the loss of the set.
The frustration escalated. At 0-1, Zverev lightly tossed his racket aside, exchanged words with his support team on the sidelines. The minor outburst seemed to have a positive impact: despite continuing to err, Zverev regained control of the match. Following the third set's conclusion, he broke Marterer's serve at love to take a 3-2 advantage and didn't surrender another game.
After their Olympic experience in Paris, Marterer and Zverev shared a room in the German tennis pros' dormitory at the United States Open. Despite the challenging conditions and numerous unforced errors, Zverev had a promising start in his match against Marterer at the US Open, breaking his opponent's serve in the first set.
