Updated on 01/17/2022 15:23
- Novak Djokovic had to leave after the court ruling in his Corona thriller.
- Now sport is coming to the fore at the Australian Open: Alexander Zverev gets off to a good start.
- Even if he didn’t really notice the win against Daniel Altmaier at first.
At the first moment of his opening victory at the Australian Open, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev was confused. With the fifth match point, Germany’s best tennis player had just made his 7: 6 (7: 3), 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 1) against Daniel Altmaier perfect. But he wasn’t aware that his appearance in the Rod Laver Arena was over. Zverev called for a ball for the next serve before he noticed the mistake and rushed to the net to Altmaier.
“I thought I lost a point more than I did”
“I thought it was 6-2 in the tie-break. I thought I lost a point more than I did,” said the title candidate on Monday with a smile when he went to the press conference in an Olympic muscle shirt with the words “Germany” written on it appeared.
“That’s why it was a bit of a strange situation, but then I noticed that the spectators were starting to get up. When you’re on the pitch, you don’t actually hear the score, you hear the clapping from the spectators and the noise,” explained Zverev after rounding off a successful first day for the German tennis men in Melbourne.
Without losing a set, but also without top form and with weaker phases, the third in the world rankings decided the German duel in his favour. “Not much went according to plan, except that I won,” admitted the 24-year-old: “It was a first-round match at a Grand Slam in January – I can’t play that perfectly. There are some things I do better can make.”
Zverev now meets John Millman
In the battle for a place in the third round, he meets John Millman on Wednesday. How complicated it is against the world number 89. can be, the Hamburger himself felt. Zverev played against the Australian twice, won twice – but at the French Open 2019 he only fought his way through in five sets. He immediately reminded of the crazy victory of the Swiss Roger Federer against Millman – in Melbourne 2020.
However, if Zverev wants to make his great ambitions for Down Under a reality, the Australian veteran must not stop him: In just under two weeks, the North German would be only too happy to celebrate his first Grand Slam title. After Melbourne record champion Novak Djokovic was forced to leave Australia, Zverev is the best-placed professional in the upper half of the table – and could benefit from the court decision against Djokovic.
That’s why the US Open finalist from 2020 came back to Center Court after 2:38 hours against Altmaier. Although it was approaching midnight in Melbourne, he was still practicing serves.
Zverev finds it difficult to get into the match
In the first meeting with Altmaier, who was one year younger, Zverev had found it difficult to get into the match. Altmaier is 87th in the world rankings, surprised by reaching the round of 16 at the French Open in 2020 and is now appearing at the Australian Open for the first time. In the third set, Zverev had to endure a tricky situation against the 23-year-old from Kempen when he conceded a break and was 4-2 behind. But Zverev avoided losing the set: He missed three breakballs in a row, but then equalized to make it 4: 4 – and characteristically shook his head. At 6:5, three match balls in a row were not enough for him to succeed.
Dominik Koepfer, who progressed despite arm problems, as well as Oscar Otte and Yannick Hanfmann also made it into the second round. Qualifier Hanfmann in particular is looking forward to a real highlight thanks to his first win in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament: the duel with top star Rafael Nadal ensures him a match in one of the top places. “I said last time, I’m going in there to win and then I was pretty, not beaten up, but pretty much shot down,” said the Karlsruher, looking at his encounter at the French Open 2019 with the Spaniard. Maybe this time he says he wants to play “great balls” and “tight sentences”.
Smoothly 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 2 he asserted himself in round one against the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who was in good form recently. “I still have the images in my head,” he enthused about the atmosphere: “We came onto the pitch and it was deafening noise. We both looked around and thought: ‘What’s going on here?’ It felt like Davis Cup vibe.”
Apart from Altmaier, only Peter Gojowczyk was eliminated from the men’s tournament on the first day of the tournament. For women, there is a risk of rapid sadness. After Andrea Petkovic’s 2: 6, 0: 6 chanceless performance against the Czech French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova (“a terrible day”) only Angelique Kerber can prevent complete disillusionment. Tatjana Maria is already out.
© dpa
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