Becker sees him among favorites
Zverev despite a shaky serve in round two
08/29/2023, 8:37 p.m
Alexander Zverev is back. In his first-round match at the US Open, the man from Hamburg advanced to the next round without losing a set. The serve doesn’t always work, in the game he appears confident. So strong that a tennis legend sees him among the favorites again.
Alexander Zverev thundered his 13th ace into the field and routinely celebrated the successful return to the US Open. After the forced break last year, the tennis Olympic champion confidently reached the second round of the Grand Slam tournament in New York. The 26-year-old defeated the Australian Aleksandar Vukic 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 4 and lived up to his role as favorite in the opening match. After 2:09 hours he converted his first match point.
At 26 degrees and high humidity, Zverev only gave up his serve once in the final phase of the game. “A strong performance, I especially liked the way he played,” said tennis icon Boris Becker as an expert on Sportdeutschland.TV. “It’s up to him if he keeps playing like this – I like him a lot today – if he keeps that up then he can beat anyone in the world.” Previously, Tamara Korpatsch was the first German tennis professional to reach the second round at this US Open.
Zverev continued to demonstrate his good form. At the dress rehearsal in Cincinnati he had defeated the former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev from Russia and kept up well in the semifinals against the Serbian top favorite Novak Djokovic. “I definitely see him among the favorites,” said his Austrian buddy Dominic Thiem before the tournament. After Zverev had to sit out the US Open last year due to his serious ankle injury, it should now go as far as 2020, when he narrowly missed the big triumph in his only Grand Slam final against Thiem.
Slight pain in left wrist
But he still has to improve for that. Unlike in training, Zverev no longer wore tape on his left wrist. After lying wrong in his sleep, the man from Hamburg reported slight pain before the tournament – there was no sign of it at the beginning of the game. The first serve was not safe at first, but Zverev still had his opponent largely under control. When the score was 2:2, the world number 12 worked out the first breakballs. He used the second and cheered with his fist in the direction of his attachment with father Alexander senior and girlfriend Sophia Thomalla in the stands.
Zverev was the more active player, stabilized further and took the world number 50. directly from the service in the third game of the second round. Zverev also survived the few difficult moments with ease: the former second in the world rankings fended off his opponent’s breakball with a strong serve when the score was 3: 2. After the second set he had something brought out of his box to snack on. With renewed energy, we continued in a concentrated manner. Zverev managed to break again in the initial phase – and looked like the sure winner. To make it 4:4, he still gave up his serve, but hit it back directly and was able to celebrate a little later.
For Zverev it was the seventh win in Flushing Meadows in a row, while Korpatsch is in the second round of the US Open for the first time. The 28-year-old prevailed 6: 3, 6: 2 against Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. In the first set, Korpatsch was already 5-0 ahead, allowed himself a small phase of weakness, but kept his nerve.
The second round was a largely clear affair for the world number 75. Previously in New York, Laura Siegemund was the first of five German players in the main draw to narrowly miss a surprise against American co-favorite Coco Gauff.