Zverev beats Schwartzman to keep ATP Finals hopes alive
Alexander Zverev beat Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to keep alive his hopes of another ATP Finals triumph in London.
The 2018 champion looked out of sorts in his straight-sets defeat against Daniil Medvedev on Monday and again struggled to find early rhythm at the empty O2 Arena.
The Argentine eighth seed, who is at the elite eight-man event in place of the injured Roger Federer, was also looking to bounce back from losing his opening round-robin match, to Novak Djokovic.
Big-serving Zverev, who struggled badly on second-serve points against Medvedev, was broken by Schwartzman in the third game but turned the tables with two breaks of his own to take the set.
The Argentine’s serve was again under pressure in the first game of the second set but he dug himself out of the hole to hold before Zverev broke in the third game.
The German, who stands 28 centimetres (11 inches) taller than Schwartzman, appeared to be in control without finding his best form but then lost his own serve with a clutch of unforced errors.
Zverev raced through his next service game but then stumbled again on serve as his 28-year-old opponent took the set 6-4 to level the match.
The momentum appeared to be with the Argentine but the match changed direction again in the fith game of the decider when Zverev broke with a fine backhand volley.
Schwartzman saved two break points in the seventh game but by now fith seed was in the groove and he broke again to seal the win.
“It was much beter than on Monday,” said Zverev. “Diego is a very difficult player, he deserves to be here. There’s no easy matches but I’m happy to get the win, I’m happy to give myself a chance to go to the semi-finals.
“I’m excited for Friday. Friday’s going to be the most difficult match-up that you can have here, against Novak.”
Zverev, who has won two titles in the coronavirus-truncated 2020 season, beat Djokovic in the final in London two years ago and appeared to be on the verge of a Grand Slam breakthrough.
The 23-year-old has not yet won a major but reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open this year and the final of the US Open.
On the eve of the tournament he opened up about domestic assault allegations, which he denies, but he came to London in good form ater reaching the final of the Paris Masters, where he lost to Medvedev.
NADAL VOWS TO KEEP FIGHTING AFTER THIEM LOSS: Rafael Nadal insisted he can still win the ATP Finals for the first time despite a damaging 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4) defeat against Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Tuesday.
Thiem overpowered Nadal behind closed doors at London’s O2 Arena to put a dent in the Spanish star’s bid to finally lit the one major prize missing from his packed trophy cabinet.
Thiem became the first player to qualify for the semi-finals a few hours later when reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6).
Nadal, who lost the 2010 and 2013 finals of the event, has to beat Tsitsipas in his last group match to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious season-ending tournament.
Despite his perilous position, Nadal goes into the showdown against Tsitsipas, with the winner guaranteed to progress to the last four, in confident mood ater batling hard against the inspired Thiem.
“He played I think an amazing match, and I played well too. So my feeling is not negative. I lost, but I had plenty of chances, said Nadal, who had beaten Rublev in straight sets in his first match.
“I’m happy with the way I played. I think my chances are bigger to have a very good result now than five days ago because the level of tennis, even if I lost today, for me is much higher.”
Nadal, who last month equalled Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slams by winning the French Open, has won 86 titles but just one of those has come on an indoor hard court.
The world number two has qualified for the ATP Finals for 16 years in a row, but his record at the eight-man elite event pales in comparison with Federer and Novak Djokovic ater six injury withdrawals.
Zverev, who has won two titles in the coronavirus-truncated 2020 season, beat Djokovic in the final in London two years ago and appeared to be on the verge of a Grand Slam breakthrough