Zverev edges tight contest with Tiafoe to qualify for fourth round

Alexander Zverev edged a tight contest with Frances Tiafoe to qualify for the fourth round of the French Open at Roland-Garros.

The Philippe-Chatrier night crowd got more than their money’s worth from a contest full of quality, but also nerves, as Zverev finally got over the line after close to four hours.

As the match ticked past midnight local time, there was added significance for Zverev, as it marked exactly one year since he was forced to withdraw from his 2022 Roland-Garros semi-final with Rafael Nadal with a serious ankle injury.

He said: “It’s been definitely the hardest year of my life, that’s for sure.

“I love tennis more than anything in the world, I play the sport not because of the money or the fame, not because of anything else but the pure sport.

“I love the competitiveness, I love playing in front of you guys, so to have that be taken away from me was very difficult.

“I’m so happy to be back here, playing these tough battles again, and hopefully it’s going to be a fun second week for me because I’m here to stay.”

The first set saw some fine tennis from the start, but it was Tiafoe who got the upper hand when taking the second of his break points in game seven, and then broke again to take it 6-3.

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The second set went right down to the wire with a tie-break, and Zverev took it following some controversy over a line call that Tiafoe disputed.

The German looked to be taking a chokehold on the encounter when romping through the third set 6-1.

However, Tiafoe rediscovered some momentum and grabbed a break in the fourth to give himself the chance to serve for two sets all.

But back came Zverev with the immediate break back, leaving the set teetering on a knife-edge at 5-4 to the American.

Zverev needed to hold to keep the set alive, but a remarkable 10th double fault of the match saw him go 0-30 down.

As both players looked to be struggling with nerves at a crucial stage of the match, Zverev hauled himself out of trouble to make it 5-5.

That became 6-6 as the pair went into a tie-break, and it was Zverev who held his nerve, letting out a roar as Tiafoe hooked a forehand wide on match point down.

Zverev will face Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round, after the Bulgarian coasted past Daniel Altmaier.

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