Alexander Zverev says he was ‘planning his holiday’ as he survives French Open scare
Alexander Zverev said he was ‘planning his holiday’ during his French Open match against Sebastian Baez, such was the poor quality of his performance.
The third seed had to save match points after losing the first two sets before eventually finding a way to turn the contest around and book his spot in round three.
Zverev was broken in his first game and was just nowhere near his best for large chunks of the match.
He slowly started to find his groove, though, and he survived a major Roland Garros scare when he nearly lost it at the very end.
However, he was able to pull himself back from the bring before closing out a 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
“I told Sebastian this is the worst he will ever feel on the tennis court, this moment,” Zverev said.
“It was such an incredible match. I know this too well – I lost the US Open final from two sets ahead, The next year I won the Olympic Gold and the ATP Tour Finals.
“He’s a great kid. He’s going to do a lot of unbelievable things in this sport.”
🎙️ "I think experience counts"
No.3 @AlexZverev reflects on coming back from two sets down today:#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/VTDXEEH6yN
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2022
Asked how he was able to pull his game around, Alexander Zverev said: “I just tried to fight. In those moments you’re not going to play great every single match, and you have to find a way to win this match.
“I’m happy with still being in the tournament right now. I was planning my holiday in Monaco, where I’m going to go. That relaxed me a bit, thinking of the beach.
“There’s not much you can do, you just have to find a way. You talk about mental strength, talk about Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic].
“I’ll never be on their level but I’m trying got get closer to them.”
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