ATP Montpellier: Successful debut - Alexander Zverev beats Mackenzie McDonald
Alexander Zverev is confident in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event in Montpellier. The German never really gave up against Mackenzie McDonald, with the exception of a small wobble in the second set, and now meets local hero Adrian Mannarino.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Feb 03, 2022, 09:03 pm
Actually, Alexander Zverev had of course imagined it very differently. Actually, the German would of course have preferred to celebrate his first triumph at major level, would have preferred to celebrate being number one in the world rankings for the first time. But as you know, things turned out differently. Instead of Grand Slam joy, there was a disillusioning knockout round defeat against the lively Canadian Denis Shapovalov. And with it a painful return to the hard ground of reality.
And this hard ground was called Montpellier on Thursday, where Zverev quickly accepted a wildcard for the ATP 250 event. In any case, the German showed little sign of the great frustration of the bitter end Down Under. Zverev got off to a good start, made an early break and needed almost exactly half an hour to close set one 6-2.
Zverev now against Mannarino
Zverev also dominated the action against the American in the second round. The German presented himself almost untouchable on his own serve and struck ice cold at the break chances. Until the score of 4: 2 in the second set, McDonald had absolutely nothing to oppose the native of Hamburg, but then the American managed the rebreak almost out of nowhere.
Zverev was not unsettled by this, however, and confidently served himself in a tie-break, in which the German took command again after a mini-break deficit. The logical consequence: after just over an hour and fifteen minutes, Zverev made the ultimately unchallenged two-set win over Mackenzie McDonald perfect and bought his ticket for the quarter-finals in Montpellier. In the end, however, his American opponent helped a lot with three unforced errors in a row.
In the round of the last eight it is now against the local hero Adrian Mannarino, who last showed strong performances at the Australian Open, threw Hubert Hurkacz and Aslan Karatsev out of the tournament before the eventual winner Rafael Nadal should be the final stop in the round of 16. In Montpellier, Mannarino has so far clearly defeated David Goffin and Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina.