The Olympic champion struggles in the match against Radu Albot – but clearly wins in the end. The Spanish talent Alcaraz is defeated by the Italian Berrettini, the German double Krawietz / Mies is in the next round.
Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has reached the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the fourth time in a row. The third in the world rankings from Hamburg won against the qualifier Radu Albot (Moldova) 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4 on Friday without really shining. Nevertheless, Zverev is still in the tournament without losing a set. The biggest challenge so far awaits the 24-year-old in the round of 16, when he meets 14th seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov. In the six duels with the 22-year-old so far, Zverev has won four times. (to the results)
Zverev often seemed dissatisfied against Albot, after a strong start he kept getting into dicey situations in the second set. He had to fend off five breakballs – but as soon as it became really important, Germany’s athlete of the year was there. After the forced departure of world number one Novak Djokovic before the start of the tournament, Zverev is one of the title contenders alongside US Open winner Daniil Medvedev (Russia / No. 2) and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal (Spain / No. 6). He is the only remaining German in the individual competitions in Melbourne, all other eleven starters failed in the second round at the latest.
Berrettini stops Alcaraz
Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini put the up-and-coming tennis talent Carlos Alcaraz in his place with a lot of effort in the third round. The seventh in the world rankings from Italy had to fight the round of 16 against the 18-year-old Spaniard despite a 2-0 set lead over the full distance, in the end he won 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 2 :6, 7:6 (10:5) through. Alcaraz had recently attracted attention at the “Next Gen” finals in Milan, and he won the title at the annual final of the best young professionals. He had previously reached the quarterfinals at the US Open in New York. At the end of last season, he had missed his participation in the Davis Cup final round with Spain due to a corona infection.
Also Krawietz/Mies further
The reunited successful doubles Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies (Coburg/Cologne), on the other hand, reached the round of 16 in Melbourne for the first time. The two-time French Open winners prevailed on Friday 6: 4, 6: 7 (7: 9), 6: 4 against the Americans Austin Krajicek / Sam Querrey. The German duo had already given away a match point in the tie-break of the second set. Krawietz and Mies, seeded number twelve, will be appearing together in a Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne for the first time since winning the title in Roland Garros in 2020. In the round of 16 they meet top doubles John Peers/Filip Polasek (Australia/Slovakia), who are fifth.
At the beginning of last year, Mies had to undergo cartilage surgery on his knee, which resulted in a long break. In the meantime, Krawietz played successfully with the Romanian Horia Tecau and qualified for the ATP Finals with his partner. The two tennis professionals, who triumphed in Roland Garros in 2019 and 2020, had previously competed together in Melbourne. In 2020 they failed in the first round. The “KraMies” celebrated their comeback after more than a year last week at the ATP tournament in Sydney, where they reached the semifinals.
