French Open: The next big turn: Alexander Zverev as a survival artist in Paris

Alexander Zverev has survived the next big fight at the French Open and is in the round of 16. With his will to fight, the 21-year-old mutates into a survivor in Paris.

Jörg Allmeroth from Paris

Something special has to happen for Alexander Zverev to show senior feelings. The father and coach of the German tennis star doesn’t really put a face on the edge of the pitch, he is considered a proven poker face. But on Friday afternoon, Papa Zverev could hardly be stopped and braked either, again and again in the last minutes he shouted commands with a red head at the Centre Court in Paris.

There his son fought a heavy French Open third round fight against the tricky, poisonous, lively Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia-Herzegovina). And sometimes also against themselves, against the fears and doubts crawling into their heads, against the prospect of possibly being condemned to the role of a spectator even before the decisive second Grand Slam week.

It was an emotional ascent and descent in which all ups and downs were explored. But father and son Zverev and the rest of the tennis family, they all had every reason to cheer after three hours and 54 minutes: The third in the world rankings, but on paper the first challenger of Rafael Nadal in Paris, won 6:2, 3:6, 4:6, 7:6 and 7:5 against Dzumhur after defending a match ball and thus entered the eighth finals of the French Open Championships for the first time.

“It was a crazy match. I’m just happy to be through,” said the completely exhausted hamburger. Immediately after the transformed victory point, Zverev had only tiredly stretched his hand into the sky, an emaciated fighter who had already made a memorable comeback on the sand courts under the Eiffel Tower for the second time within 48 hours.

Zverev had already made up for a 2-1 deficit in the second round against Serb Dusan Lajovic, but now, after a 4-2 deficit in the fourth round and a match point Dzumhurs in Act 5 of the Grand Slam drama, he is back on the road to success. “I actually stayed calm, almost always concentrated point by point,” Zverev said later. He now meets either the local hero Lucas Pouille or the Russian Karen Khachanov.

At the end of the match, the great impresario Ion Tiriac also came to the main square of the Grand Slam celebrations in Paris, where he has an eternal place in his own box. At the Madrid Masters just under a month ago, Tiriac and Boris Becker presented Zverev with the winner’s trophy, the most brilliant moment of this strong clay court season.

In Paris Tiriac saw another Zverev, however, not as sovereign and dominant as at almost all performances before the French Open. But a Zverev, who was mainly occupied with biting his way through against a completely uncomfortable opponent. The German had to work in the sand, he had to run after countless stop balls, it was one of those feared gruelling battles – a heavy wear and tear duel that went to the substance and psyche.

Zverev dominated the game, then lost control, also due to recklessness and lack of bite. Then, as he balanced over the abyss in the fourth movement, the determination, the will to survive, was there again. And with this strength of character again the chance to stay in the big game.

Zverev’s first victory against a top 50 player at major level with a 2-2 set equaliser, however, was far from over. Dzumhur was unmoved, even when Zverev moved away 3-1 in the last set. The Balkan man evened, even had a match point. But Zverev rejected him at 4-5 with a mighty serve.

There was absolutely nothing to be seen of the younger Zverev, who completely lost his nerve at critical moments, roared around and fired a bat across the square. So the cool new Zverev managed the 6-5 lead with a break and was allowed to watch Dzumhur put a forehand far out in the first match point. “It was a moment of deep relief. I just thought, “It’s over,” Zverev said afterwards in a TV interview.

Last year’s first-round bankruptcy at a Grand Slam tournament – on the Centre Court against the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco – was the scene of his greatest French Open victory. Zverev’s Grand Slam adventure goes into extra time.