French Open: intermediate examination passed: Zverev with new Grand Slam serenity

Alexander Zverev fought his way into the third round of the French Open with a five-set victory. The match against brave Serb Dusan Lajovic shows that the 21-year-old has matured – and that his new strategy of calmness is working.

After almost three and a half hours of hard work on the tennis court, Alexander Zverev was looking for distraction at the Playstation. While gambling, the 21-year-old switched off mentally and worked through the impressions of the second-round K.o. at the French Open, which had just been averted. “This is my evening ritual,” he confessed with a smile. In addition, it is an expression of the new Grand Slam serenity of the great German bearer of hope.

Zverev, who was also clear on Wednesday after the hard-fought 2:6, 7:5, 4:6, 6:1, 6:2 against brave Serb Dusan Lajovic, does not want to put himself under pressure in Roland Garros this time. The major disappointments of the past are being pushed far away from the third place in the world rankings. “Everyone tries to make a bigger story out of it than it is,” he complained: “I’m not worried. If I play well, the results will come.”

Yet even Zverev openly admits that this looseness is new. That at earlier Grand Slam appearances he let himself be hampered by the unconditional desire to prove himself on this stage as well. “It felt different, I can’t deny it. Even at the Australian Open,” he said: “Now I just take it as a big tournament. I’m trying to enjoy it. If you can enjoy, success comes naturally.”

In this respect, Zverev did not want to be disturbed before his third round match against number 26 seeded Bosnian Damir Dzumhur on Thursday. He booked the arduous success against Lajovic as a necessary intermediate test. “Everyone needs a match like this to get through,” he said.

For tennis icon Boris Becker, however, it was also an expression of the Hamburg-born player’s new physical maturity: “For the first time in a Grand Slam match, he realized that he is physically stronger than the other,” Becker analysed in his role as TV expert at Eurosport: “He was not afraid of the long rallies or of going into the fifth set. He was getting stronger.”

Zverev, as will become clear in the first days of Paris at the latest, has taken the next development step this year. He trusts his own strength and does not let himself be distracted even in critical situations. “The best players will always find a way to win the match, even if they don’t play their best tennis,” he said on Wednesday: “And at some point in the tournament, the best players will start playing their best tennis.