Alexander Zverev kicked-off his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open with a roller-coaster win over compatriot Maximilian Marterer.
The German fourth seed was far from his best during his 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, victory over the world No.45 at Flushing Meadows on Monday. Zverev produced 44 unforced errors as well as 21 aces in what was his 59th Tour-level match of the season. It is the first time he has dropped a set during his opening match at the US Open since 2020.
“It was just my usual first round, I guess. I made it complicated for myself at times but in the practice week beforehand I was practicing and playing extremely well. Was feeling the ball extremely well.” Zverev reflected during his press conference.
“It’s different on the match court, different in the first round. But I’m glad that I won. I know that I have good tennis in me and hopefully I can show that on the match court.“
Coming into the final Grand Slam of the season, the 27-year-old told reporters he has been dealing with health issues and has taken blood tests which revealed that some of the ‘values’ in his body were low. However, he didn’t give any full details about what those issues were but they are believed to be unrelated to his diabetes.
On court, Zverev looked on course to be cruising to a straightforward victory on the Grandstand Stadium after clinching the opener in just over 30 minutes. However, a noticeable dip in his focus and level in tennis during the second set paved the way for Marterer to break for the first time. Zverev managed to fight back to draw level before producing a costly double fault at 5-5 in the tiebreaker to hand his rival a set point which he converted.
Despite still appearing sluggish, Zverev managed to regain his stronghold by breaking his rival once en route to clinching the third set. Visibly frustrated with his lack of firepower and at times throwing his racket on the ground, the world No.4 managed to seal victory as Marterer rapidly faded away during the closing stages.
Zverev has now won 23 consecutive matches against left-handed players on the Tour.
