US Open: Zverev skips obstacle number five – sport


Suddenly it was soaking wet on the tennis court Arthur Ashe Stadium, despite the bright sun. What happened? Well, Lloyd Harris had thrown two bottles of water on the floor out of frustration, and they exploded like Chinese firecrackers. He had lost the first set against Alexander Zverev in the tie-break, and the South African was colossally annoyed – also about how that happened. He had set ball on his own serve, as Zverev complained that the stadium control changed the picture on the big screen shortly before the start of the rally.

That’s annoying, certainly, especially when you serve yourself; But it was also annoying for Harris that Zverev complained again now of all times (the hamburger had already complained loudly before). Harris stood at the baseline, waited, looked at Zverev, looked at the referee – and lost the three points after that and the first set. Just 77 minutes later, the whole game was over. Zverev won this quarter-finals 7: 6 (6), 6: 3, 6: 4.

“Harris served well in the first set and swung without pressure in the third, so I’m glad to be through,” said the German finalist from last year on the pitch: “I will now watch the other quarter-finals and hope it will be four and a half hours I want my opponent to crawl onto the pitch and I’ll get to the final. “

The dramaturgy in the men’s field of the US Open is completely designed so that Novak Djokovic will meet Zverev in the semifinals on the way to the Grand Slam (he has already won the tournaments in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon) – against whom he will meet in the semifinals of the Olympic Had lost games in Tokyo and who, alongside Daniil Medvedev (Russia, is in the semifinals against the candidate Felix Auger-Aliassime), is the only one who could prevent the historic triumph of the Serb, who in the evening against Matteo Berrettini (Italy) for the semifinals Participation plays.

Zverev served outstandingly against Harris

Zverev, 24, has so far played his way through the tournament with ease; which was also due to the fact that possibly stronger opponents failed earlier than expected. Zverev can’t do anything about that (he used to be one of those actors who often failed earlier than expected), apart from small hiccups, he has always played so well that it was enough to win easily. In these cases one often tries the horse, which only jumps as high as the obstacle requires.

Against Harris, he served brilliantly (he scored 82 percent of the points where the first serve landed in the field, and he did 68 percent of the attempts), he adjusted wisely to the opponent’s style of play (many cross strokes, to To drive Zverev out of the field), and in moments like set ball for the opponent, he showed that meanwhile he the experienced, the savvy and not the other. He has now won 16 games in a row and the gold medal at the Olympics.

Zverev jumped as high as he had to jump; but on Friday he should encounter an obstacle that is unlikely to be crossed without jet jets – especially with three winning sets: Djokovic is the best return player in the field (next to Medvedev), he is now better prepared to play during his games the opponent’s one than any other; and if he has proven one thing in his long career: he is also a savvy fox.

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