AAs Alexander Zverev sat in a press conference room in Melbourne on Thursday and asked the first question, the tennis player briefly looked away. “If he was sitting here before the game,” Zverev said of his opponent, who had previously made life difficult for him for so long: “Then I wouldn't have recognized him.”
As well? Lukas Klein from Slovakia has not been noticed so far on tour. He is ranked 163rd in the world and will play premierships on the second tier Challenger Tour in 2023. Last year at Wimbledon, he made one Grand Slam appearance and lost in the first round. Maybe who noticed that?
“That's how tennis is sometimes.”
Zverev won't forget Klein anytime soon. In any case, he had enough time to memorize the face of the person he was talking to. His second round match against the Slovak lasted four and a half hours. In the end, Zverev narrowly won in five sets 7:5, 3:6, 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (10:7) as he was ultimately the man. Strong nerves and in the tie – the break of the fifth set was able to rely on his serve.
For better or worse, the German later had to admit something: it easily turned out the other way. His opponent scored as many points as him and was the more active player at many points. “He probably deserved it more than me today, but that's how tennis is sometimes,” Zverev said.
Germany had already lost in the second round against last year's qualifiers. But at that time he was coming back from a long injury break. This year, Zverev appeared to be in much better shape ahead of his first Grand Slam of the year and was already seen by some as a secret favorite for the title. But against Dominik Koepfer in the first round and now against Klein, Zverev is yet to win in title form.
The world number six was stifled at times by Slovakia's aggressive play. Zverev really found his way into the game and won the first set 7:5 thanks to a late break. The rallies were initially short. Nothing pointed to such a tense conclusion. A lot changed when it started raining in Melbourne in the second set.
Since John Cain Stadium is one of three on campus with a roof, games have been played under indoor conditions ever since. “Maybe it suits him better,” Zverev speculated. From then on, Klein played more offensively, scoring a lot of points, especially with his forehand, thus taking sets two and three. In the end, Slovakia's statistics showed 80 successful strokes and 83 unforced errors.
“He played unbelievable,” Zverev said. But it always takes two: an “incredible” player. And one makes the other play “Incredible.” Zverev was very passive most of the time, often standing behind the baseline and struggling to find the right length on his shots. “I was a spectator for a long time. The match was in his hands,” said Zverev: “He hit all the balls as hard as he could. Sometimes I didn't know what to do.”
What's surprising: unlike in the first round, Zverev didn't swear, was withdrawn, and at times surprisingly impassive. He hasn't had an outburst of anger in a while now, Zverev said at a press conference afterward. For a year and a half he didn't crack a single scam. “If I have to quit, I'll quit. But I don't feel like it helped me today.
It was only in the fourth round that Zverev returned to action. But by then he already had his back against the wall. With the score at 4:4, Klein escaped a break point against himself as he played a free forehand outside half court. “I think that was the only thing in the match,” Zverev said afterward. That is absolutely not the case. But Klein's rally shot was already causing him problems. The German, who played more confidently in the tie-break thereafter, also benefited from his good serve.
In the final round, Klein had already moved up a gap to the world number six before making a comeback. When asked what Zverev was thinking after the game, he replied: About the flight home via Dubai that evening. Mentally already on the plane – that suited Zverev's performance that day.
The 26-year-old has a lot to improve if he is to go far in this competition. “I think I played better than I did in the first round,” said Zverev, who now faces 19-year-old American Alex Mickelson. It is still largely unknown. Like Klein.
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