Time on German's side
The sport’s greats are of general consensus, it’s only a matter of time for Alexander Zverev.
They’ve been spouting that line for years now.
On a darkening Thursday evening, however, time was all that appeared to save the 21-year-old from another premature departure on a Grand Slam stage.
In what had developed into a high-quality shoot-out between two of the sport’s most highly touted talents, it was Taylor Fritz, just six months Zverev’s junior, who strode to the chair with a two sets to one lead before bad light intervened.
The American had thumped his way through a third set tie-break without conceding a point and Zverev couldn’t have packed his bags quick enough to break momentum and force the pair to resume battle on Friday.
Fritz had pleaded his case to continue. This was a match he felt he could have finished off in four. And with his serve so on song in set number three, it was difficult to disagree.
After a night to regroup, however, Zverev returned to highlight the gap that had developed between the pair’s progression in recent years.
Under full sun on No.1 Court, he conceded just three games further as he hammered his way through the final two sets for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-2 result.
“Well, I mean stopping yesterday two sets to one down was not a nice feeling,” Zverev said. “I knew if I played better than yesterday I’d have chances. I’m happy to be in the third round tomorrow.
“I think the last two sets showed it. I’ve been playing well on the clay courts again. I won a Masters again, made a final in Rome, won Munich and made a quarters in Paris so it’s all coming together.”
This was a chest-beating, if you like, against a player who had reached his first tour final in Memphis at 18, a young American once mentioned in the same breath as Zverev as the two names most likely to lead a future changing of the guard.
Both tall, lean athletes topping 6ft 5in, they shared a similar style with a game built around first-stroke tennis. Similarly for both, mobility and defence were the areas they would need to improve as they matured if they wanted to one day last the distance in seven best-of-five matches to share in the Grand Slam spoils.
While the German had surged to No.3 in the world with Masters 1000 titles and wins over the likes of Roger Federer, on grass no less, Fritz had fallen to the Challenger level, forced to grind his way back into the top 100 as he closed the gap on his career-high mark of No.53, a ranking achieved two years ago.
Now under the guidance of Paul Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras and Federer, Fritz had made steady improvements.
But so had Zverev. It is easy to forget the world No.3 is still only 21 with the pair ranked above him 11 and 16 years his senior.
That duo boasted a collective 37 Grand Slam trophies, in considerable contrast to the rangy German’s record, who until last month had not even reached a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Zverev hoping to compensate for German football failings
Now, with that monkey finally shaken from his back, there is a sense Zverev will begin to push deeper, inching closer to fulfilling that promise on tennis’s biggest stages.
“I mean, the difference between now and a year ago, probably a little longer ago, is that when I'm down two sets to one or something like that, I don't really panic. I'm very calm. I try to find ways to win. I think that's a very big difference,” Zverev said of his improvement.
“But, you know, players always learn. Players always try to find ways. Players always try to get better. I think even Roger now, at the age of 36, he's still trying to find ways to get better, to compete at the highest level.
“I think if you don't get better, you stay the same. For me, I mean, I will try to find ways to get better for the next 15 years hopefully.”
Latvian former world No.10 Ernests Gulbis – now ranked No.138 – is next. It’s a match-up Zverev won’t be taking lightly.
“For sure, I think this match [against Fritz] showed it as well,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re out in the football, so hopefully I can win a few more matches so the German crowds can watch some more.”
It’s steady progress and still early days in just his third Wimbledon campaign, but time is on his side.
