Zverev Fights Back at Roland Garros
Alex Zverev needed to dig deep in order to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday, climbing back from a big deficit to defeat Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Paris.
“This is important because I’m still in the tournament—so I have a chance to still play here,” said Zverev. “Obviously Dusan, at the moment and during the clay-court season, he’s been playing unbelievable. I knew it was not going to be an easy match. I didn’t play my best the first three sets, I thought. Once I found my range and rhythm I felt good out there.”
Zverev fired 12 winners to just six unforced errors in the deciding fifth set, and didn’t face a single break point in either of the final two sets to advance in three hours and 24 minutes.
“I’m very happy to be here with a five-set win, somebody who has beaten great opponents during the clay-court season,” Zverev added. “Obviously, it was not my best. I know that. There are still a few things I need to work on. Actually, in the fourth and fifth sets, I really felt good out there even though I was a little bit tired and a little bit fatigued.”
Zverev moves into a third-round clash with No. 26 seed Damir Dzumhur, who beat Radu Albot 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5 on Wednesday.
No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov battled with Jared Donaldson for more than four hours on Wednesday, eventually outlasting the young American 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8.
“It’s great to win a match in five sets—it stays with you, you keep it, especially on clay and here at the French Open,” said Dimitrov. “It was one of those matches when I didn’t play my best, but found a way to hear those last words—game, set, match.”
Dimitrov plays No. 30 seed Fernando Verdasco next.
No. 8 seed David Goffin, No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta, No. 19 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 20 seed Novak Djokovic all won their respective singles matches to advance on Wednesday.
