Alexander Zverev played a dangerous game on Friday, when he came back from the brink of defeat in the fourth set — and saved one match point at 4-5 in the decider — against Damir Dzumhur at Roland Garros for the 150th match win of his career (150-78). Having led by a set and 3-1, the second-seeded German found himself staring down the barrel with Dzumhur serving for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set and later on serve at 4-5, 30/40 in the fifth set. But Dzumhur, the No. 26 seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina, blinked and Zverev fought back to complete a 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 win in just under four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier. “It...
Dominic Thiem has accomplished as much on clay as any 24-year-old could hope for. The Austrian has won eight ATP World Tour titles on the red dirt and beaten Rafael Nadal three times on the surface, for starters. But he has been unable to move past the semi-finals at Roland Garros, falling in the final four in Paris the past two years. Thiem continued his efforts to take it one step further on the terre battue, defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 on Friday in two hours, 37 minutes to reach the Round of 16 at the clay-court Grand Slam for the third time in five appearances. "He's a great player. Very dangerous. Great forehand and great serve,"...
Earlier this year, Novak Djokovic lost three consecutive matches for the first time since 2007. The former World No. 1 even dropped outside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings this month for the first time since 2 October 2006 as he continued his comeback from a right elbow injury. But none of that has mattered at Roland Garros. Djokovic, who is seeded his lowest at a Grand Slam since the 2006 US Open, at No. 20, looks to have regained his confidence. The Serbian battled past No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 6-2 in three hours, 48 minutes on Friday. "It was a great fight, almost four hours. Bautista Agut, he's not going to hand you...
Fernando Verdasco rolled back the clock on Friday at Roland Garros, when he saved four set points in the first set en route to victory in the 350th clay-court match of his career (218-132). Verdasco, the No. 30 seed from Spain, booked his place in the fourth round for the seventh time, equaling his best performance at the Grand Slam championship, with a 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in two hours and 22 minutes. "In the first set, I had to save a few set points in one game, and I was just trying to be in that moment point-by-point and trying to just do the best I could," said Verdasco. "I was able to win...
Fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares defeated Dusan Lajovic and Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5 in the Roland Garros first round on Thursday. The British-Brazilian team now play South Americans Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry. Third seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers needed just 42 minutes to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic and Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-2 for a place in the third round. Kontinen and Peers, who have a 10-1 record in tour-level finals, including the 2017 Australian Open (d. Bryan-Bryan) and 2016-17 Nitto ATP Finals, lost just six of their service points. They will next play Italians Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi, who ousted British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Wesley Koolhof and...