Alexander Zverev produced tennis of the highest calibre to see off the challenge of Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(4) 6-2 under the lights here at Key Biscayne.
The 4th seeded German was forced to raise his game in the tiebreaker, and found his best tennis when it mattered most to surge to a straight sets victory in impressive style.
Games went with serve throughout the first set, with the only break point chances coming to Zverev in the opening Carreno Busta service game. The Spaniard, seeded 16, saved two consecutive break points in that game and from there both players traded blows, going toe to toe from the baseline. When Zverev went down 0-3 in the tiebreaker, it served only to force the German to raise his game to a level that the Spaniard could not match. An acutely angled backhand cross court winner brought the score to 3-3 and the German surged to 5-4 with a big serve followed by a backhand winner into the backhand corner of the Spaniard off the high short return. Carreno Busta was powerless to do anything in the next point when Zverev ripped a backhand up the line for a clean winner to set up two set points, and he conceded the 56 minute set going for too much on the forehand wing, sending the ball wide.
The second set saw Zverev go into showboat mode as winner after winner was exclaimed with a fist pump and his customary gesture where he raises his hand over his head in beckoning fashion to invite more adulation and applause from the fans. He broke Carreno Busta in the third game as the Spaniard’s backhand found the net, and secured the double break in the seventh game with a forehand cross court winner. He wasted no time in serving out the match to love with a 131mph ace out wide to set up a Miami Open final against John Isner on Sunday.
“I tried to be aggressive and made some winners”, Zverev said concerning his comeback from 0-3 down in the tiebreak. “I hit some backhand winners finally in the match and found my rhythm and after that I started to play really well, not only in the tiebreak, but also in the second set.”
“I started to play a lot better and was hitting a lot of winners. Getting the crowd involved, especially in Miami where the crowd is quite loud and quite powerful, is an important thing.”
Carreno Busta played about as well as he could against the powerful German, and he pinpointed a moment when things began to slip away in the tiebreak.
“I think that the level throughout the first set was very high”, Carreno Busta said. “I missed a return off the second serve at 3-1 up in the tiebreak; easy time when you play at this level, when you play with these players, that is a gift.”
“I tried to dominate the points and be aggressive. I know that Sasha playing inside the court is very strong, so I just tried to be aggressive and dominate the points.”
Zverev served 10 aces, with 69% first serves from which he won 88% of the points. He converted 2/4 break point opportunities. Carreno Busta was unable to get to break point on the Zverev serve.
