Sunday May 30th 2021
Five sets for round two
Zverev struggles with Otte
The matter is clear on paper – but for a long time no difference can be seen on the tennis court. To move into the next round, Zverev has to work hard at the French Open.
Alexander Zverev fought like crazy against the cranked Oscar Otte – and turned the threatening embarrassment against the Cologne underdog thanks to his strong physique. With the greatest effort, the clear favorite beat the 27-year-old nobody on the Grand Slam stage with 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 0 and made it to the second round of the French Open . The greatest hope for the German men can continue to dream of his first major victory.
Zverev had the biggest problems with the clever and intelligently acting Otte from the start. There was absolutely no sign of any superiority of the clear favorite in the first two sentences. “As number six in the world, I have to be the dominant player,” said Boris Becker at Eurosport: “Today you don’t notice the difference in the world rankings.” Zverev had to toil for a long time, but finally won his seventh match over the full distance in Paris.
When he won the title in Madrid at the beginning of the month, the native of Hamburg beat Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini one after the other. But against Otte, Zverev did not find his rhythm at first. The world number six did not move as well and, as so often in the past, was too far behind the baseline. Otte, who had qualified for the main field with three wins in qualification, played on the other hand carefree and duped the big favorite again and again with well-played stops.
At the beginning of the third set, Zverev fell briefly to the ground. But this scene did not become a symbol. Instead, Zverev was getting better by the minute, while Otte could no longer maintain his high level. Zverev got the third set and at the latest after his break to 3-2 in the fourth round, he had finally made the turn. After 2:49 hours, Zverev used his first match ball. Since the Austrian Dominic Thiem lost in five sets against the Spaniard Pablo Andujar in his half of the tournament, it was still a very good day for the native of Hamburg.
The German number two Jan-Lennard Struff, Dominik Koepfer, veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber and Maximilian Marterer are still hoping for the jump into the second round. Laura Siegemund and Andrea Petkovic are still in the running for women. Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber can start the journey home again.
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