[CR29] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs. [CR82] Alexander Zverev (GER)
It was their second meeting this year and despite losing their first encounter, I expected Zverev to pull off the upset today. I was fairly convinced he could do it when he broke back after dropping his first service game of the match. I was definitively convinced that the match was his when he won the first set in the tiebreak. Yet, as we know from bitter experience of playing or watching some of our favorites, the match is not won in one set. It’s worse in a major because it can actually go to five gruelling sets.
My conviction came from the belief that Zverev would win it in straight sets once he won the first set. I began to doubt when he dropped the second and third sets. He has phenomenal strokes and will only get better as he matures; however, he still struggles physically. In these humid and oppressive conditions, I knew he would get into trouble if he did not upset Kohlschreiber in straight sets. It was a valiant effort from the teenager; unfortunately after a little over three hours, he lost in five sets. Kohlschreiber won 6-7(0), 6-2, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. His second round opponent will be Lukas Rosol. Kohlschreiber leads their head-to-head 3:1 and it will be their first meeting this season.
