London, (Samajweekly) Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at the O2 Arena to register his first win in the ATP Finals on Wednesday. The 2018 champion, who lost to Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the first game of this years tournament, smashed 10 aces and saved six out of nine break points.
“It was much better than on Monday. Diego is a very difficult player. There are no easy matches, but I am happy to get the win. I am happy to give myself a chance to go to the semifinals,” World No. 7 Zverev said after the match of the Group Tokyo 1970.
The 23-year-old German started strong to earn a commanding 6-3, 3-1 lead, but Schwartzman continued to battle and forced a deciding set. The 6’6″ right-hander came back to win the third set.
Earlier, World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece defeated tournament debutant Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6) to set up a virtual quarterfinal clash with Rafael Nadal of Spain for a place in the semifinals.
Tsitsipas’s win over Rublev guaranteed Austria’s World No. 3 Dominic Thiem a place in the semifinals. Thiem now leads the Group London 2020 2-0.
“It was an unbelievable match from both sides. We produced some incredible tennis,” Tsitsipas said after the match.
“The relief at the very end of putting all that effort and all that fight on the court paid off. I am very happy that I showed determination and a willingness to not give up when he had match point,” he added.
The Greek player had played a tough three-set match against Thiem on Sunday. The match against Rublev too went the distance. Rublev won four consecutive points from 2-5 down in the final set tie-break to earn match-point. The Russian double faulted, though, and Tsitsipas took full advantage.
“Having the opportunity to play lots of matches like this, at such a high intensity, and always testing myself against these players gives me the opportunity to learn and grow,” Tsitsipas said.
“It is a learning opportunity as well for today. Even though it was a win, I still feel like there is plenty to improve and get better at. I am sure being with that mindset, being willing to just put more and more effort into what I am doing and more sacrifices are going to pay off at the end,” he added.
