In an incredible match, Alexander Zverev battled past Daniil Medvedev 6-4 1-6 7-6(5) to reach the Miami Open third round.
The German looked a frustrated figure at times but he will be grateful that he managed to pull over the line against a very aggressive Medvedev. The Russian started out stronger as he found a break of serve in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead as Zverev’s pessimistic attitude was slowly costing him. However despite a distraction in his own coaching box, Zverev got back on track and some nice play at the net helped him to four games in a row to grab the opening set in 44 minutes.
Although the Russian had lost the first set he kept his concentration and started to break down the world number five’s game. The Russian broke a frustrated Zverev twice as the final set loomed.
The final set saw exceptional quality from both guys as the atmosphere increased inside Stadium court. Both players had clutch serves in the important moments and provided us with some breath-taking forehands and some serious aggression. However as the tiebreak took place, Medvedev was over-aggressive which allowed some errors from the world number 52 and after 2 hours and 14 minutes Zverev secured a massive victory. The win was huge for the German as you can see below, after he lost in his first match in Indian Wells last week.
(🎥@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/A5f2XWKgRA
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) March 24, 2018
The German will now play Spanish veteran David Ferrer in a possible Davis Cup preview after the world number 35 thumped Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-2. The Spaniard produced a very solid performance as he set up a third round match with Zverev.
In other results Denis Shapovalov continued his impressive young career by defeating 24th seed Damir Dzumhur 6-1 7-5. The Canadian coasted to victory as he only lost 8 points on his first serve and used his entertaining backhand to dictate play. He will now play either Sam Querrey or Radu Albot.
Finally Borna Coric battled back against Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 to make the third round. Coric, who tested Roger Federer last week in Indian Wells, will now play either Yuki Bhambri or Jack Sock in the third round.
