Since losing just two games in his first meeting with Robin Haase in 2014, Alexander Zverev has found it tough going when the two have met. Haase set the record straight by pushing the young German to five sets at the beginning of the year at the Australian Open.
Haase finally redeemed himself with by scoring a shock 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over the World No.4 in the Paris Masters. It looked as if the match would go the same way as the previous two encounters when Zverev tokk the first set with the only break. However, the warning signs were there, as though Zverev did well to capitalise on his single break point, Haase wasted six chances of his own.
Haase would not yet future opportunities slip however, as he then broke four times from five break points across the final two sets to reach the third round.
The loss for Zverev adds an intriguing chapter to the race for the ATP Finals in London. Zverev was drawn in the same section as Juan Martin del Potro, who is chasing an unlikely place at the season finale. The Argentine had been well down the pecking order earlier in the summer, but by reaching the semis in Shanghai, winning in Stockholm, and making the final in Basel have dragged him into contention.
Del Potro starts his campaign today with a second round meeting against Joao Sousa of Portugal knowing that he may have to face just one seed to reach the semi-finals. That is the stage he must reach to make the finals (assuming Kevin Anderson does not also reach the same stage) after the early exits of fellow London hopefuls Pablo Carreno Busta and Sam Querrey.
John Isner is one of the potential seeds that del Potro could meet in the quarter-finals, and is perhaps one of the biggest obstacles for the Tower of Tandil. The American survived a thrilling 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 battle with del Potro’s compatriot Diego Schwartzmann to reach the third round. Isner hit 29 aces and saved all four of the break points he faced.
Isner waits for the winner of a contest between two players with flashy one-handed backhands in Richard Gasquet and 6th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
