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German downs Spanish teenager in straight sets

Second seed Alexander Zverev has stamped his authority on #NextGenATP contender Carlos Alcaraz in Acapulco on Monday night. The German pulled clear of the precocious 17-year-old 6-3 6-1 as he reached the second round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

"He started off playing extremely well, he didn't miss a lot of balls. Then I felt more comfortable on court, this is the first round," Zverev said. "It's not always easy to play a first round, especially against a player like this, who is very young, who is very motivated and who wants to compete. I'm actually quite happy with how the match went."

In Alcaraz’s first showdown against a Top 10 opponent, the Spaniard broke first for 2-0 and while unable to consolidate, he stood toe-to-toe with the World No.7 to 3-all. On his fourth opportunity, however, Zverev landed what proved to be a pivotal break for 4-3 in the opening set.


He ended up claiming nine of the last 10 games to secure his passage after 84 minutes. There was a moment of all-court brilliance from Alcaraz when he drilled groundstrokes from corner to corner before he closed to pull off a deft drop-shot winner, serving at 1-4 in the second set.

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However, it was all too brief, as Zverev landed the fifth break of the match and served it out on his 11th ace. He dropped just four points on his first serve.

The German will meet Laslo Djere for a place in the quarter-finals after the Serbian posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over American Steve Johnson. In a dominant night on serve, Djere claimed 89 per cent of his first-serve points and dropped only four points on his second-serve points. The World No. 54 did not face a break point.

Alexander Zverev nie jest zwolennikiem rozwiązania, na jakie zdecydowało się ATP w dobie pandemii COVID-19. Niemiec skrytykował obowiązujący system rankingowy, podając za przykład Rogera Federera.
Rafał Smoliński
Rafał Smoliński
16 Marca 2021, 15:43

Alexander Zverev
PAP/EPA / David Guzman / Na zdjęciu: Alexander Zverev



Koncert Huberta Hurkacza w Dubaju. Największa broń rywala nie odpaliła
W marcu 2020 roku tenisowy tour został zawieszony z powodu pandemii COVID-19. ATP zdecydowało się zmodyfikować ranking i po wznowieniu rywalizacji akceptowane były wyniki osiągane w głównym cyklu przez 22 miesiące (marzec 2019 - grudzień 2020). Potem wprowadzono system 24-miesięczny. Niedawno ogłoszono kolejne zmiany (więcej tutaj) i jeśli wszystko potoczy się zgodnie z planem, to pełen powrót do pierwotnego (12-miesięcznego) naliczania punktów nastąpi 15 sierpnia 2022 roku.
Zmodyfikowany system rankingowy okazał się korzystny przede wszystkim dla wysoko klasyfikowanych tenisistów. Otrzymali oni bowiem gwarancję zachowania punktów w przypadku rezygnacji z gry w trudnych czasach lub niepowodzenia w danych zawodach. Roger Federer wykorzystał ten okres, aby wyleczyć uraz kolana. Do rywalizacji powrócił w marcu 2021 roku, po 14 miesiącach nieobecności, zachowując wysoką pozycję w rankingu. Aktualnie Szwajcar to szósta rakieta globu.


W rozmowie z Fox Sport Mexico do powyższej sytuacji odniósł się Alexander Zverev, który w rankingu ATP zajmuje siódmą lokatę. - Jestem wielkim fanem Rogera Federera, ale on nie grał od roku i jest przede mną w rankingu. Ja natomiast byłem w wielkoszlemowym finale (US Open), finale zawodów ATP Masters (Paryż) i wygrałem dwa turnieje (w Kolonii) - przypomniał Niemiec.

- Powinienem być teraz w pierwszej piątce, a nawet czwórce na świecie w normalnym systemie rankingowym. Ale ten, który mamy teraz, jest trochę absurdalny. Panuje w nim bałagan i nie ma on tak naprawdę większego znaczenia - dodał reprezentant naszych zachodnich sąsiadów, który w poniedziałek awansował do II rundy zawodów ATP 500 w Acapulco.

German denies World No. 54 to book quarter-final place
Alexander Zverev will contest his third Acapulco quarter-final in four years, following the second seed’s straight-sets triumph over Serbian Laslo Djere on Wednesday night. The German shook a slow start and secured his passage 6-4, 6-3 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

It was a wayward Zverev early on as the pair traded four straight breaks on a flurry of wild errors, before both began to find their range on serve. Luck deserted the Serbian when serving at 4-all as he completely lost grip of his racquet on a humid night to double fault and handed the World No. 7 the crucial break to serve for the set.

“I've known him since we were juniors and every time we played was extremely long, but that was back in the day,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I'm happy with today's win and he's improved a lot since then.”

How To Watch

It was an opportunity Zverev did not waste. He secured it 6-4 when Djere slapped a defensive slice forehand long and looked to assert his authority with an immediate break to open the second set. While unable to consolidate, the German made his move with a break for 4-3 and advanced when Djere pushed a backhand long.

“I think today what showed the most is that I got better with the match,” Zverev said. “I started off extremely sloppy, started off with a lot of unforced errors.

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“The longer the match went on the better I started playing and this is something that is very important for me. When I get into a rhythm I feel very comfortable on court and that's how I felt today.”

Zverev will look to equal his Acapulco run from two of the past three years when he meets Norwegian Casper Ruud for a semi-final berth. He finished runner-up to Nick Kyrgios two years ago and fell in the semi-finals to Juan Martin del Potro the year before.

“Casper Ruud is someone who's come up the ranks extremely fast the last couple of months, couple of years,” Zverev said. “Yeah he's somebody to look out for definitely.”

German to face Tsitsipas on Saturday
Acapulco was rocking on Friday evening, and the semi-final action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC was only part of the story. Second seed Alexander Zverev didn’t let an earthquake rattle him on his way to a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory against Dominik Koepfer to reach his 23rd ATP Tour final.

Zverev will play second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a shot at his 14th ATP Tour title. The German has reached the final here previously in 2019, and made the semi-finals in his debut the year prior. He has not dropped a set en route to this year’s championship match, including a quarter-final walkover from Casper Ruud.

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Zverev took a fast lead in the opening set, going up a double-break to lead a nervy Koepfer 4-1. But once his countryman settled into the match, Zverev was in for a battle. Koepfer got the break back and earned two break points that would have levelled the score at 4-4. Zverev responded by raising his level and taking the set.

The Germans had to briefly halt play when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake in the state of Guerrero suddenly shook Cancha Central for about a half minute during Koepfer's service game.


“The lights started shaking and the crowd felt it more than we did,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference. “We were running around the court, so we had to play a point during the earthquake. We didn’t feel much, but still obviously I know it happens here in Acapulco.”

After they got their bearings, Koepfer didn't miss a beat as he broke first to take a 3-1 lead. But Zverev again responded in style. He created break opportunities in each of Koepfer’s next three service games and finally converted at 5-4 to send them into a tie-break, where he claimed victory after two hours and 10 minutes.

“He’s a very tough player to play right now. He won some incredible matches,” Zverev said. “Beating [Milos] Raonic on a hard court the way that he did is very tough. I think he showed that he is somebody who can play extremely well on this level. Today, honestly, I thought I played a not bad match and he gave me a tough time."

Zverev trails Tsitsipas 1-5 in the ATP Head2Head series, with their last match coming at the 2020 ATP Cup. The top two seeds will meet off in the Acapulco final for the first time since 2015 when No. 2 seed David Ferrer of Spain defeated top-seeded Japanese star Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5.