Last year’s Nitto ATP Tour champion Alexander Zverev overcame his compatriot Daniel Altmeier 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 7-6 (7-1) in their first head-to-head match to advance to the second round on the Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Zverev came back from a break down in the third set to close out the match after 1 hour and 38 minutes.
Altmeier saved three set points on serve at 4-5. Zverev raised his level in the tie-break earning four mini-breaks and closed out the tie-break 7-3 ith a forehand winner.
Zverev earned a double break to take a 4-0 lead and closed out the first set 6-1 after 30 minutes.
Altmeier earned his first break to take a 3-2 lead in the third set. Zverev broke back on his fourth opportunity in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4, but Altmeier saved four match points at 5-6 to force the third set to the tie-break. Zverev earned three mini-breaks to win the third set 7-1.
Zverev has reached the second round at the Australian Open for the sixth consecutive year in his seventh appearance at this tournament.
Zverev is aiming to become the fifth German male player to win a Grand Slam title and the first since Boris Becker won the trophy at Melbourne Park in 1996.
Zverev reached his best Grand Slam result at a Grand Slam tournament at the 2020 US Open, when he reached the final. Zverev rallied from two sets down for the first time to beat Pablo Carreno Busta in the semifinal in New York before squandering two-set lead for the first time against Thiem in the championship match. Zverev reached two more Grand Slam semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open and at 2021 Roland Garros.
Zverev led ATP Tour with six titles in 2021, including the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, the ATP Finals in Cincinnati and Madrid, the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Acapulco and Vienna. He holds a record of 36 wins in his past 41 matches since Wimbledon.
“Not much went to plan to be honest except that I won. That is how it is sometimes. It is the first round of a very long tournament and you are not always going to play your best tennis. It was a good match for me to get into the tournament and hopefully the next round will be better”, said Zverev.
