Alexander Zverev rallied his way into the last 16 at Wimbledon despite having multiple treatments on his knee after suffering a tumble halfway through his third round match.
The fourth seed beat Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(15), to continue his perfect record against the Brit, who he now leads 6-0 in their ATP Tour head-to-head. He has won 21 consecutive matches against last-handed players and is through to the fourth round at SW19 for the third time in his career. Zverev is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“Cam is an incredible player, grass is his favourite surface, so I knew I had to play my highest level.” He said afterwards.
“It’s an honour to play on Centre Court, we had so many great guests in the Royal Box today, a football legend in Pep Guardiola.
“When I saw Pep I got so nervous, so it’s a great privilege and honour to play.”
Coming into the third round encounter, Zverev had only dropped 15 games in the tournament which was almost half the amount of Norrie’s (29). The German first struck seven games into the match by hitting a wide forehand shot to draw an unforced error from Norrie and broke for 4-3. Two games later, he earned his first set point but failed to capitalise before sealing out the opener in less than 40 minutes.
Zverev then faced a new challenge after suffering a nasty fall close to the net and jarring his left knee. Prompting a halt in play as the trainer came out to assess his injury. Immediately afterwards, he was moving gingerly around the court before quickly finding his footing again. A huge relief for the tennis player who previously retired from a major semi-final after suffering a mid-match injury at the 2022 French Open.
On the court, he took the second frame by breaking Norrie once before closing it out with a smash at the net. Then in the third, the home player continued to produce stern resistance and drew cheers from the crowd when he unexpectedly hit an underarm ace to move ahead 6-5. However, Zverev was still able to weather the storm by coming through a marathon 32-point tiebreak that saw him fail to convert five match points and save five set points before sealing victory with the help of a Norrie error.
“It is what it is, I managed. I do feel restricted, but I will check it out and see what it is.” Zverev later commented on his knee.
“If I’d have dropped my level I’d have had no chance.”
Zverev has won 97 Grand Slam matches so far in his career. He is yet to drop serve at Wimbledon this year.
“I’m happy that it’s working the way it is,” he said.
“I’ve spent hours and hours just working purely on my serve.”
Zverev will next play either Alejandro Tabilo or Taylor Fritz.
