US Open: Saving energy – Alexander Zverev rolls over Peter Polansky

Alexander Zverev made an impressive start at the US Open 2018: The German number one defeated the Canadian Peter Polansky clearly in three sets.

By Jens Huiber from New York City

If you don’t want to let up too much energy in the current heat at the National Tennis Center, it’s best to start like the fire brigade. Alexander Zverev did so right from the start when he played Peter Polansky for the first time at the 2018 US Open – and did not step off the accelerator in the 1:36 hours of play.

The German number one defeated the Canadian 6-2, 6-1 and 6-2 without any problems and will face either Nicolas Mahut or Corentin Moutet in the second round, in any case a Frenchman.

Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber had gone ahead of their compatriot in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, at 4 p.m. the German result was 1:1. It was never in question that Zverev would turn it in favour of black-red gold: the Hamburg-born player was too dominant from the baseline. Even if Zverev, as usual, usually kept a due respect distance to the same one.

Polansky had lost to Donald Young in the final qualifying round. As in every Major 2018, and as in Melbourne, Paris and London, the 30-year-old had still slipped into the tableau, the Grand Slam as Lucky Loser.

Zverev and Polansky met only once before the game in New York, at a Challenger tournament in Irving. In 2014, Polansky won in three sets. The relevance for the 2018 encounter: zero.

Zverev took the break for 2-0, missed chances for 5-1. Ivan Lendl had taken a seat in line one, in the shade. After 38 minutes the first set was still on Zverev’s side with 6:2. If you have problems against Donald Young, you’ll lose against Alexander Zverev anyway. The latter plays at twice the speed.

And Polansky’s problems did not diminish. Round two reflected the start of the first, again it was the fourth seeded Zverev who set the first exclamation mark for 2-0 – and in the fourth game he had another break. 6:1 after a total of 65 minutes.

The fact that the favourite also opened round three with a break finally reduced the chances of a Canadian comeback. Especially since Zverev had now moved closer to the baseline, telling his opponent by the position in the field: not today. If Zverev keeps playing like this, this message will continue to reach the opponents in the next rounds.