BEVERLY HILLS, February 03, (THEWILL) – Tennis world number seven, German professional Alexander Zverev came back from a set down in his match at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Cup on Wednesday to claim his first victory for Germany by beating Denis Shapovalov in three-tightly contested sets, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4).
Zverev must have had his thirst for vengeance at the back of his mind when he took the court on the Rod Laver Arena against the one player who knocked him out at this stage in last year’s ATP Cup. In 2020, Zverev’s representation of Germany was a no-show as he went 0-3 for Germany, including a one-sided, 6-2 6-2 whitewash by Shapovalov, leading to a group stage elimination of his country.
On Wednesday, Shapovalov got a taste of his own medicine, handed him by Zverev. The latter survived an early scare of a repeat of last year’s defeat but recovered emphatically after a narrow drop in the opening set, which was decided by the slimmest of margins in Shapovalov’s favour.
What made the difference was a single mini-break in the tie-break of the set as Zverev and Shapovalov traded blows throughout a server’s contest with neither player giving the other a break.
It was Shapovalov’s level that dropped in the second set, and Zverev took the chance to seize his opportunity. An uncharacteristic series of attackable Shapovalov serves came in the set, which Zverev immediately pounced on to take his first break of the match. It allowed him take the lead at 3-1 with a searing forehand passing shot. The German showed his grit as he saved three break points to take the second set, 6-3.
Sensing his upper hand, Zverev continued to chip away at Shapovalov. It helped him create six break chances in the final set. But, the hard-fighting Canadian refused to go down. Zverev could not shake him off as they marched to a final tie-break.
In the end, Zverev’s revenge was complete as he managed to turn around an early deficit by taking four points in a row. He then struck back-to-back aces to close out the match after nearly three hours on court (2h 53m) for the Wednesday German triumph over Canada.
The double-barrel import of Zverev’s victory is that it also knocked Canada from contention after teammate his Jan-Lennard Struff’s victory earlier in the day clinched the first point for Germany against Milos Raonic. Consequently, Germany will contend against defending champion Serbia on Thursday, whose challenge is led by world number one Novak Djokovic, for a semi-final spot.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
