Alexander Zverev was once again reminded on Saturday of what could soon be in store for him. At the end of the tennis facility in Melbourne, there is a huge picture on Court 11, where the German is preparing for his third round match at the Australian Open. To see: Carlos Alcaraz, clenching his fist as he shouts for joy. And because the young Spaniard is number two in the world and Zverev is number six, both could meet in the quarter-finals of the tournament if everything goes according to plan.
But Zverev didn’t want to think too far ahead. At least that’s what he said before the tournament and then, with two not really confident performances in rounds one and two, he provided proof of why it’s always better to concentrate on your next opponent first. After all, a Grand Slam tournament like this can be over quickly.
Things continue for Zverev. Two days after the arduous five-set win against qualifier Lukas Klein, the Hamburger defeated the 19-year-old American Alex Michelsen 6:2, 7:6 (7:4), 6:2 after just under two hours and showed for the first time , why many had planned a duel against Alcaraz before the tournament. The number six in the world rankings appeared more courageous than last and gave Michelsen little chance of getting into the game.
Alexander Zverev overtakes Tommy Haas
How was this increase in performance possible? The tactical talk before the game with his father, who is also his coach, was very good, said Zverev in an interview on the court afterwards. “He said I should hit more winners and make fewer mistakes. “It’s very simple,” Zverev explained with a laugh. And his father also had another important message ready: “He put his hand on my shoulder and said: Nobody wants to see you playing tennis at 3 a.m..” Zverev was finished shortly after midnight. And that was around three and a half hours earlier than the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who had been on the pitch until just after half past three two days earlier.
Zverev managed an early break in the first set when the score was 1:1. Afterwards, he also benefited from the fact that his opponent occasionally prepared his attacks well, but then completed them too hastily and inaccurately. The Olympic champion only wobbled briefly once when he was already ahead by a break in the second round and Michelsen took his serve again. In the tie-break the German was again the more active and better player.
Zverev is in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the 17th time in his career and has now overtaken Tommy Haas, who has made 16 round of 16 appearances so far. In Australia, Zverev will now face Briton Cameron Norrie (seeded 19th), who defeated clay court specialist Casper Ruud (11th) in four sets. “He played a great match,” Zverev praised his opponent.
The German still had enough time to watch a lot of the duel between Norrie and Ruud. The women’s match, which was played before his game in the Rod Laver Arena, lasted 2:20 hours – and ended with a surprise: the Czech Linda Noskova threw the world number one Iga Swiatek out of the tournament in three sets.
With Norrie, Zverev will have a much more difficult task on Monday. In the interview on the pitch, he was told a statistic that could be encouraging: Norrie is a left-handed player. And Zverev has won all of his last 13 games against them. “It brings bad luck when you say it like that. Especially when there are 13,” said Zverev, visibly in a good mood, before becoming serious again: “I will do everything to make sure there are 14.”
David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4 David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4 Published/Updated:
Then there would be the duel with Alcaraz, who also had to deal with a young talent on Saturday. A few hours before Zverev, he met the 18-year-old Chinese Juncheng Shang, who retired injured in the third set. Alcaraz had previously won the first two rounds 6-1. The Spaniard will now face the Croatian Miomir Kecmanovic and would probably have an advantage in a possible quarter-final duel against Zverev: So far he has been on the pitch for almost three hours less than the German.