OOlympic champion Alexander Zverev didn’t let a long break in the rain upset him and reached the third round at the Masters in Indian Wells. The 25-year-old from Hamburg won against Pedro Cachin from Argentina 6: 3, 6: 1 on Friday (local time) and spent more time in the catacombs than on the pitch. The game in the first set was interrupted for more than two hours due to rain, but the two professionals were only around one and a half hours on the court in stadium two on the facility in the Californian desert.
“It was a very solid first lap for me. I’m happy about the level I played,” Zverev told the German Press Agency. “The conditions weren’t easy. I was expecting a match a day in the heat. You also tighten your racket differently. Then it became a night match, but I found the level very, very high and I’m happy with how I played.”
“The locker room was full”
For Zverev, it was the first game in the $10.1 million (€9.48 million) tournament. In the first round, the player seeded number twelve had a bye. In the third round he meets either Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain or Emil Ruusuvuori from Finland. Zverev was particularly satisfied with his performance in the second set. “I increased my level significantly in the second set,” he said.
During the long break he reduced the tension. “You’ll get tired at some point. It was important to warm up well and get into the match and I did that,” he said. “I ate something, took a shower and changed my clothes and then I was in the locker room – just like all the other players. The changing room was full, it wasn’t just raining in second place.”
Zverev had recently reached the semifinals at the ATP tournament in Dubai and won two games in a row for the first time since his serious ankle injury. The man from Hamburg tore several ligaments in his ankles at the French Open and only played tournaments again at the beginning of the year.
In addition to the Olympic champion Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff is also in the competition in Indian Wells from a German perspective, he will play in the second round against the American Tommy Paul on Saturday. Oscar Otte lost in the second round against Karen Chatschanow from Russia 3:6, 3:6 and was eliminated.
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Even after Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal retired, Tommy Haas sees international tennis on the right track. “I don’t see any reason to worry. Tennis is tennis. A Roger (Federer) comes and goes, an (Andre) Agassi comes and goes, a Boris (Becker) comes and goes. Just like Steffi Graf, Monica Seles or Serena Williams. There will always be new players and stories,” said the former number two in the world rankings of the German Press Agency on the sidelines of the Masters in Indian Wells.
Haas is tournament director there and does not have one of the big three at the start – Federer has retired, Nadal is injured and Djokovic has not received a visa for the USA due to the lack of vaccination against the corona virus.
The tournament is therefore also a bit of a test run as to how the sport can be marketed after the big three have retired, said Haas. He sees the sport well positioned. “Carlos Alcaraz got us all off our seats last year, US Open winner and youngest year-end number one. You have enough stories,” said the 44-year-old. “Tennis is on the right track.” (dpa)