Tennis, China: Zeverev narrowly beats Griekspoor

With a shaking win against Tallon Griekspoor, Alexander Zverev, who was in poor health, made it to the round of 16 at the Shanghai Open.

The Hamburg native beat the unseeded Dutchman 7:6 (8:6), 2:6, 7:6 (7:5) on Tuesday in the tournament worth around $10.3 million. However, Zverev appeared emotionally shaken. In the round of 16, the world number three will now face David Goffin (Belgium).

“It was an incredible match, he is an incredible player”said Zverev appreciatively. When asked about his physical condition, he remarked: “I’m happy that I was able to hold my own and be able to play three sets. Let’s see what it looks like tomorrow.”

Zverev takes on the chair referee

For Zverev, who complained of fever and cough during the Laver Cup in Berlin and took a week-long break due to pneumonia before the tournament, it was hard work against Griekspoor from the start.

Towards the end of the first set, Zverev loudly argued with chair referee Mohamed Lahyani, despite a correct decision by the Swedish referee. “You decide the whole match. What are we investing so much in for nine months?”complained Zverev, who then threw his racket to the displeasure of the audience, only slowly calmed down and narrowly avoided a point penalty.

“We try our best and then things happen that we can’t control. This is very frustrating.”said Zverev about the discussions. But referees are also only human, “Everyone makes mistakes. I generally had a lot of problems with decisions this year.” In the “Heat of Battle” Then there are arguments.

Powerless after winning the set

During his first win in the tournament against the Italian Mattia Bellucci (6:4, 6:2), Zverev had already struggled with the referee’s decisions several times. But against Griekspoor he finally caught himself, secured the first set in the tiebreak after 67 minutes and shouted his joy unusually loudly.

Afterwards, however, the French Open finalist seemed completely weak – he finished the second round with almost no resistance. It went to the 28-year-old Dutchman after just over half an hour.

In the deciding set it was finally evenly matched again; the decision was made after the German missed four match points in the tiebreak. Zverev (27) kept his nerve and prevailed with the successful match point after 2:48 hours.