NEW YORK (Reuters) – Germany’s Alexander Zverev overcame a patchy performance to beat South African Kevin Anderson 7-6(2) 5-7 6-3 7-5 in the opening round of the U.S. Open on Monday.
Fifth seed Zverev, who lost to Andy Murray in his first match after the COVID-19 lockdown at the Western and Southern Open last week, sprinted out of the blocks to grab an early lead and went on to clinch the opening set in a one-sided tiebreak.
Both players were locked in an intense serve-and-volley duel before Anderson, the 2017 runner-up, converted his only break point opportunity in the second set to draw level.
Zverev found another gear to regain the momentum in the third set as Anderson, playing only his ninth match of another injury-plagued season, struggled to keep up with his opponent’s stinging groundstrokes.
After showing incredible control on his first-serve, Zverev patiently worked on Anderson’s serve to carve out a decisive break point late in the fourth set to clinch a hard-fought victory.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
