Last Updated on October 28, 2021
German tennis player Alexander Zverev had more difficulties in the first round of Roland Garros, than expected and was forced to make a great comeback to beat his compatriot Otte, a player outside the top 100 in the world and not considered at the beginning a complicated obstacle.
As often happens to him, however, Sascha started with the handbrake on and in a short time lost the first two sets, but reacted great and won the pass for the second round. In his career Zverev has played 23 matches that ended in the fifth set, a very high figure considering that the German is still very young.
Moving 🔛@AlexZverev crosses the finish line against Otte 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/HDYZXINaeW
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2021
Zverev’s words in the conference
In his press conference, however, the tennis player appeared not to be worried and talked about the match and his future in the tournament. Here are his statements:
“My opponent played quite well in the first two sets and did what needed to be done when you play against a top player in the first round of a Grand Slam.
He had already played three matches here and he already had the match rhythm, he played very well and he served well. When I made the break in the third set I started to hit better with my backhand, my forehand became heavier and I didn’t concede anything to my opponent anymore.
I have enough confidence in my body and from this point of view I know that I have no problem going all the way, in fact I almost feel comfortable getting there. Initially I wasn’t playing very well, but I knew what I needed to improve and to put him in difficulty, then I noticed that from the fourth set he started to get tired.
Thiem’s defeat? To be honest in these days we have been training together and our level was high. It has to be said that matches and training are very different and you need competitions to have rhythm during the matches.
I think the Thiem defeat upset me at least at the beginning of the match but in the end I tried not to pay too much attention to it. It made me nervous at first though.”
In the second round of the French Open Sasha will play against Russian Roman Safiullin, who made it to the main draw of the competition through qualification
