Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – June 3, 2018 Germany’s Alexander Zverev in action during his fourth round match against Russia’s Karen Khachanov REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
June 3, 2018
By Pritha Sarkar
PARIS (Reuters) – Alexander Zverev’s appetite for five-set marathons showed no signs of shrinking and even blisters on his toes could not stop the German from storming into his first major quarter-final with a 4-6 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 6-3 French Open win over Karen Khachanov on Sunday.
The German had survived successive five-setters in the previous two rounds, including saving a match point against Damir Dzumhur in the last 32, but his fatigued legs and blistered feet again worked overtime to carry him over the finishing line against Khachanov.
“I am young so I might as well stay on court for a while and entertain you guys,” the 21-year-old Zverev, who became the youngest man to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since 2009, told the cheering crowd.
“All the hours I have spent in the gym has definitely paid off as I was down two-sets-to-one in each of the three matches.”
After looking down and out for much of the third set, Zverev was fired up by a code violation for being coached from the stands by his father Alexander Sr. midway through the fourth set and he vented his anger by instantly breaking for a 4-2 lead.
He was fortunate to survive a break point when serving for the set at 5-3, with Khachanov’s blazing forehand clipping the net cord and bouncing just millimeters behind the baseline.
While Khachanov’s misfiring racket felt the full force of his exasperation, with the Russian punching his strings with his clenched knuckles, Zverev fired down an ace moments later to draw level at two sets apiece.
Despite calling on a trainer to treat blisters on his left toes before the start of the fifth set, the world number three zipped around with ease to break in the opening game of the decider and finished off the 38th-ranked Russian after three-and-a-half hours of pulsating action.
Once Khachanov’s forehand was caught by the net, a beaming Zverev thumped his heart with his right palm before he sank to his knees and pumped both fists into the skies.
He will next play seventh seed Dominic Thiem.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Clare Fallon)
