Zverev bounces back from precipice at French Open

PA R I S — T a l e n t e d a n d pegged-for-success as Alexander Zverev might be, there he was in the French Open’s main stadium Friday, on the precipice of a third-round defeat and yet another Grand Slam disappointment.

A loss would have left the No. 2-seeded Zverev with an 0-8 record at major tournaments against men ranked in the top 50. A loss also would have left his resume still with merely one trip as far as the round of 16 at any Slam — and zero such runs at Roland Garros.

In the fourth set, his opponent served for the victory. In the fifth, the circumstances were more dire: Zverev faced a match point. Both times, he proved steadier and sturdier than Damir Dzumhur, a Bosnian ranked 29th and seeded 26th, and Zverev eventually prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in 3 hours, 54 minutes.

It gave the 21-year-old German his second consecutive five-set win; he trailed two sets to one in each. It also showed — not just to others but, perhaps more importantly, to Zverev himself — that he can handle such occasions, that he is capable of doing what’s necessary when the sets and hours add up, and that he is perhaps finally ready to stride into the very last days at a major. He’s the only active player outside of the “Big 4” of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray with three Masters titles. But Grand Slam success has been elusive.

As for what sort of internal strife was happening in Zverev’s head Friday?

“N o n e , ” Z v e r e v s a i d . “Ma i n l y, I wa s t h i n k i n g (about) what I was going to have for lunch.”

Well, then. He acknowledged drawing a dose of confidence from managing to win two five-setters in a row, “knowing that I’m fit enough to last as long as I want.”

In contrast, No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov was unable to pull off back-to-back five-set wins. The two-time major semifinalist fell to 0-7 against top50 foes at the French Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 loss to 35th-ranked Fernando Verdasco.

“I lost my nerves early on,” Dimitrov said. “He played an absolutely stunning match. What can I say?”

Verdasco’s seventh career f o u r t h - r o u n d m a t c h a t Roland Garros — he has never won one — will come against 2016 champion Djokovic, who seemed to come alive after obliterating his racket in the second-set tiebreaker and wound up eliminating No. 13 Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2.

“Sometimes emotions get the worst out of you, you know,” Djokovic said, “or the best out of you, whatever you want to call it.”

Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina suffered a shocking upset as the Ukrainian world No. 4 lost 6-3 7-5 to Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu.

“I was off and couldn’t find my rhythm, my game today, and was really struggling,” said the 23-year-old. “On the other hand, she was playing great tennis. She was really, really on the ball today. I couldn’t do much.”

Caroline Wozniacki had no trouble in dealing with France’s Pauline Parmentier as the world No. 2 eased into round four with a 6-0, 6-3 one-sided victory.