Gutsy Zverev survives scare

WORLD No 3 Alexander Zverev enhanced his reputation as the new comeback king after recovering from a 2-1 deficit and a sickness bug to beat American taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-5, 7-6, 6-1, 6-2. unseeded Fritz, 20, produced a magnificent display on thursday to nudge ahead of the German after he won the third set with a 7-0 victory in the tie-break. However, his momentum was curtailed by darkness and, at the restart of play, Zverev’s quality resurfaced. Zverev revealed he had been struck down by a stomach bug: ‘Yesterday I had pain during the three sets. After the second, I threw up during the toilet break. I felt very low. today in the warm-up I was thinking of not playing at all. I didn’t eat anything since yesterday. I thought I’d go and try and the adrenaline pumped in.’ At roland Garros, Zverev won three matches by overturning a 2-1 deficit and repeated the trick. the question now is whether he can find the consistency to make a genuine breakthrough here. At 6ft 6in with frizzy hair and movie-star good looks, Zverev has the potential to become one of the sport’s stars. He is only the fifth player to win three or more masters-1,000 titles but he is still to go beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand slam. Zverev’s break arrived early on in the fourth set, when Fritz first double-faulted and then badly overhit a backhand. Zverev steamed through the gears to seal the fourth set 6-1. Zverev broke again in the third game of the final set and from there, it was a procession.