Hungry Zverev staves off upset bid

PARIS – Talented and pegged-forsuccess 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. 2seeded 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?

“None,” Zverev said. “Mainly, I was thinking (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.

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 top-50 foes at the French Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 loss to 35th-ranked Fernando Verdasco.