Alexander Zverev has lost a few too many times in the early rounds of majors. Although he did not quite bow out of the French Open on Wednesday afternoon, the world No. 5 once again put his fans through the ringer.
To be exact, Zverev put his fans through another five-set roller-coaster.
The German fended off John Millman 7-6(4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-3 after four hours and nine minutes of play to begin the final day of first-round action at Roland Garros. Zverev earned a break of Millman’s serve at 4-3 in the fifth and held serve with easy one game later to finally clinch victory.
“I’m here to play my best,” said the 22-year-old, who reached the quarterfinals of this event last spring but has never reached the semis of any slam. “I’m here to win matches. Today was a tough one. I’m excited to what’s coming ahead. Most important, I’m still in the tournament, and that’s all that matters.”
Two top women–two of the top three seeds, in fact–also remained in the tournament after succeeding Zverev on Court Philippe Chatrier with matches that went the distance. Naomi Osaka overcame Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 and Simona Halep battled past Alja Tomljanovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Schmiedlova served for the match against Osaka at 6-5 in the second but could not close it out. Halep never found herself in such dire straights, as she led by a set and then had no trouble recovering in the third following her loss of the middle frame.
Despite 11 sets of tennis on the main court, Tuesday’s final match between Gael Monfils and Taro Daniel proceeded as scheduled. One of the fastest players on tour, Monfils also plays with incredible speed in between points. And with darkness looming, the Frenchman certainly was not messing around in this one. He raced past Daniel 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 41 minutes to get the job done before 10:00 p.m.
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even though Millman is very good, that would have been a rough loss for AZ