German Alexander Zverev (3rd in the world), strong and effective in his serve, got rid of Frenchman Terence Atmane (47th) on Monday with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), looking a little hesitant in his debut on the central court of the Caja Magica in Madrid.
Despite a slight scare towards the end of the match when he seemed to have it well in hand, Zverev managed to make the difference and defeat Atmane in 1 hour and 37 minutes.
In this Madrid Masters 1000, which he particularly enjoys – having won twice in 2018 and 2021 – the 29-year-old German reached the round of 16 for the 9th time in as many appearances.
He will face Czech Jakub Mensik (27th) for a place in the quarterfinals, after Mensik defeated Russian Karen Khachanov (16th) 6-4, 7-6 (13/11) at the end of the program.
“Until 6-3, 5-2, I was playing perfect tennis but I felt a little injury, I don’t want to say what it is but I hope it will be okay for the future,” Zverev said after the match.
While seemingly in control, he appeared to be heading towards a very easy victory but had to go through a tiebreaker in the second set to secure the win.
On the other hand, Terence Atmane, with bandaged calves two days after defeating his compatriot Ugo Humbert in a match where he suffered severe cramps, did not seem physically diminished. However, he seemed to lack familiarity with the court’s wide sidelines, being surprised several times by tricky bounces of the ball.
– Ball in the stands –
Making numerous unforced errors (24, compared to only 12 for Zverev), the Frenchman may regret only unleashing his potential once his back was against the wall towards the end of the second set.
After a balanced start to the match (3-3), Zverev showed his power. Very effective on his serve, the precise German then broke Atmane’s serve twice to comfortably win the first set (6-3).
The Frenchman, who lost the first set with a missed half-volley, sent a ball into the stands in frustration and received a warning. “There is room, turn it around,” advised his coach Guillaume Peyre before the start of the second set.
But Zverev, undeterred, continued his demonstration. The German, who had recorded 40 victories and only one loss against left-handed opponents since the previous year’s Roland-Garros (only defeated by American Learner Tien in Acapulco), smoothly progressed to earn two match points at 5-2.
However, Atmane managed to fend off the threat and finally play more freely to win his service game and immediately secure his only break of the match, closing the gap to 5-4.
The Frenchman saved another match point with an ace to equalize at 5-5 and push Zverev to a tiebreaker. But from 2-2, the German pulled away and played very accurately, unlike Atmane who once again made several errors to eventually lose by 7 points to 2.
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