In the meantime, Alexander Zverev was already on his way home. “I thought: There’s a Qantas flight at eleven o’clock to Dubai and then on home,” the Olympic tennis champion reported of his thoughts during the second-round thriller at the Australian Open against Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein.
For a long time in Melbourne it looked as if Zverev would once again fail early in the Grand Slam opener after a weak performance. “I didn’t know him at all. If I had been in a room with him, I wouldn’t have known who he was,” Zverev admitted to big gaps in his knowledge about his opponent. “But he played extremely well and I was just a spectator on the pitch most of the time.”
At the last moment, Zverev left his inexplicably passive role and won 7:5, 3:6, 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (10:7) after 4:30 hours ) advance to the third round.
Out for Struff and Maria
He is the last remaining German tennis professional there. Jan-Lennard Struff failed in the second round despite a strong fighting performance and two match points with 4:6, 6:1, 6:7 (5:7), 6:1, 6:7 (9:11) against the Serb Miomir Kecmanovic and is still waiting for his first third round entry Down Under. Tatjana Maria clearly lost against number 26 seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini 2:6, 3:6 and was the last German player to be eliminated.
Zverev, on the other hand, somehow found a way to avoid an embarrassing exit against the world number 163. “I would have preferred to win in an hour and a half, but he played incredibly well. I didn’t know what to do for a long time,” said Zverev after the marathon match. “He deserved more to win today. But that’s how it is sometimes in tennis.”
Zverev appeared unfocused and sleepy for a long time in his second appearance at Melbourne Park this year. The 26-year-old is known for not particularly liking early starts at tournaments. Zverev also acted without energy and emotion for a long time against Klein. Zverev, who suffers from diabetes, repeatedly checked his blood sugar level during the break. Zverev didn’t really seem at his best.
Zverev was on the verge of elimination
Nevertheless, he was not initially in serious danger. After 50 minutes, Zverev took the first set without playing any good tennis. That didn’t change subsequently. Klein recognized this and became more and more courageous as the game went on. He very often duped Zverev, who was inexplicably far behind the baseline, with stops.
He took the serve from Zverev to make it 4:2. Due to a brief shower, the roof over the John Cain Arena was closed a short time later. But even the short interruption did not ensure that Zverev returned to the pitch more awake and focused. Klein managed to equalize the set and took the service from Zverev again right at the beginning of the third round. The German number one accepted all of this in a strangely emotionless manner. Klein now played better and better and took the lead with 2:1 sets.
Zverev was on the verge of elimination in the fourth set. When the score was 4:4, he had to fend off a break point and escaped into the tiebreak. There too he kept his nerve and managed to equalize the set. The Hamburg native shouted his joy loudly. When Zverev took serve from the Slovakian at the beginning of the fifth round, he seemed to have the game under control.
Now against the American Michelsen
But even in this situation, Zverev failed to take the initiative. He gave up his serve to make it 3-3. Klein had long since worked himself into a bit of a frenzy and was constantly encouraged by the spectators. The decision had to be made in the tiebreak, where Klein finally lost his nerve.
Zverev now meets the American Alex Michelsen. The number 91 shouldn’t actually be a real test – if Zverev takes it seriously and improves. “I hope he can recover quickly,” said tennis legend Boris Becker as a TV expert on Eurosport.
