Alexander Zverev admits he wasn’t happy with the draw handed to him at the Australian Open after sealing his place in the second round.
The German third seed and last year’s runner-up bounced back from a set down to beat Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. Zverev was particularly effective behind his first serve, where he won 84% of points and hit 15 aces. It is the 10th consecutive year that he has won his opening match at Melbourne Park.
“Definitely when I saw the draw, I wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said after beating the world No.41.
“He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.
“First set wasn’t my best tennis, I would say. I was thinking, ‘can’t get worse than that.’ It got a lot better after that for me.”
Former college player Diallo cracked the top 50 last year after winning his maiden title in ’s-Hertogenbosch. However, he has yet to beat a top-five player on the Tour with his record now standing at 0-5. He has also lost to Taylor Fritz three times and Jannik Sinner once.
“At Wimbledon last year, I lost to a similar player in the first round,” Zverev elaborated further in his press conference.
“After you’re through that match it’s a positive for sure because you have been tested and you know where you are and you know where your level is at, especially in difficult moments.
“But before when the draw comes out and you haven’t played, and I’m not sitting here as the winner, it’s not something nice or you look forward to. At the end,
“I was happy with how I took on the challenge and especially how I played the last three sets.”
Zverev, who is playing in his 40th Major draw, is chasing after his maiden Grand Slam title after settling for runner-up three times during his career. Should he triumph in Melbourne, he would become the first German man to win a Grand Slam since Boris Becker did so at the same tournament back in 1996.
In the next round, he will play either home player Popyrin or France’s Alexandre Müller.
