By Karolos Grohmann
PARIS (Reuters) – Third seed Alexander Zverev battled nerves and an erratic serve to beat Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-6(11) 7-5 6-3 on Sunday and move into the French Open last eight.
The German had to save three set points in the first set and make a comeback from 4-2 down and 15-40 on his own serve in the second while also hitting seven double faults in a rollercoaster performance.
“He was driving me nuts,” Zverev said. “He is one of the fastest players. I felt every return was put on the baseline.”
“We played three sets but we played three hours. He was playing the best tennis of his life, with the crowd supporting him. You can see how hardworking he is.”
The 25-year-old Zverev, long touted as a potential Grand Slam winner, twice broke the 131st-ranked Spaniard, who had never made it past round two in a Grand Slam prior to Paris, to charge 4-1 in front.
He looked to be cruising through his fourth round match but dropped his guard to give his opponent the opening he was looking for.
Zverev was 4-1, 40-0 up on his own serve but baseliner Zapata Miralles launched a comeback, dragging the rallies out and battling back to break the German twice before wasting three set points in the tiebreak.
Zverev also squandered three of his own before finally winning it on the fourth opportunity but was again broken at the start of the second set, dropping his racquet to the ground and looking to his player box for answers.
Zapata Miralles had the chance to go 5-2 up but failed to convert any of his break points, allowing Zverev to launch his own comeback and move two sets clear.
The German’s inconsistent served meant he failed to hold any service game until midway through the third set but recovered to win the last three games in a row to set up a quarter-final against either Karen Khachanov or teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
