Alexander Zverev has to admit defeat in a close match against Juan Martín del Potro from Argentina at the Masters in Shanghai.
Right at the beginning of the first set, Zverev showed why he could be a stumbling block for any opponent at the moment.With variable base strokes and aggressive returns, he got the Argentinean’s first service game and had only a few problems with his own serve – after just eight minutes, the score was 3-0 for the German.The world’s number four scored just three points until the quick 4-1 and continued to put del Potro under pressure.
Especially the slice on the backhand worked very well for the 20-year-old.Without any problems Zverev scored 5:2, but also del Potro found his way into the lane and served a service game in 56 seconds to the 5:3 connection.
Zverev was full of self-confidence and demonstrated his coolness in all respects.After only 26 minutes, the NextGen star won the first round with 6:3.
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The second round of the “Tower of Tandil” should start better.A solid serve game gave the serve giant self-confidence.With service charges around 215 km/h and a strong volley game, Zverev kept his opponent in check and did not pose any problems with his own service.Despite the increasing pressure of his opponent and hard forehand whips, Zverev remained calm and defended well.The variability in the game of the German player was the key to success: Zverev repeatedly sprinkled stops or long slice balls to break the rhythm of the Argentinean.
The spectators at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena saw a balanced second run with a high entertainment value.With a margin of just under 78 percent on the first serve, Zverev played a great game and made only a few mistakes.With a score of 4:3 for del Potro, the Argentinean scored 30:30.Zverev broke out of his grip, served an ace, forced “DelPo” to make a mistake and equalled 4-4.Up to 6:6, none of the two players allowed anything to happen and so it was a tiebreak.Del Potro turned up the heat and set himself down quickly with his forehands crashing 4:1.Zverev fought his way to 4-4 and lost the second round 5-7 at the Tiebrak.
In the decisive round, the hand turned and del Potro took over.The Argentinean took Zverev’s serve for 3:2 – the German hacked his racket on it and got a warning,”DelPo” also confirmed the two following serve games and Zverev beat against the match loss at 3:5.But his opponent kept on using his strong forehand and after 107 minutes, he won the first match point, which Zverev was able to fend off.The German also refused to let the second break and match ball, served two aces and set the score at 4:5.Del Potro finally served with strong serve to win 3:6,7:6 (5) and 6:4.
In the last sixteen, del Potro will now face the winner of the game against Victor Troicki, John Isner.
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