Alexander Zverev did not have the best grass court season and would love to make amends by making the North American swing his territory. The German won his first match on tour level in a month.
His last win came at the Halle Open when he beat Flavio Cobolli in straight sets. Since then, Zverev has endured two back-to-back losses on the tour. The first one was against Daniil Medvedev in the Halle Open semifinals, and the second one was more heartbreaking against Arthur Rinderknech at the Wimbledon first round in a tough five-setter.
Zverev gets back to his winning ways
However, in the ongoing Canadian Open, he put his slowly developing streak of losses to bed by beating Australian Adam Walton in tight straight sets. The German took the first set in the tiebreak 8-6.
The second set was dominated with relative ease, with Zverev breaking first. The drama was back when Walton broke the German’s serve in the ninth game. It didn’t last long enough as Zverev was sharp enough to break back immediately and with that seal the match. The final score read 7-6 6-4.
Improved return game
His downfall at the Wimbledon Championships earlier this month was due to his inability to convert breakpoints. The German missed all of his nine opportunities in London. That wasn’t a problem in Toronto as he managed to convert two out of the six opportunities, especially the last one, which helped him win the match.
In addition to that, Zverev served impeccably well with only one double fault to his name. He applied the serve and volley tactic, which helped on such fast courts. Now he has moved to the third round, where he is up against Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
With both No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing from the event, Zverev has been given the top seed. The German will relish this opportunity to bag another masters series event as he warms up for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch – Imagn Images
