The final two clashes of the Halle Open second round Day 3 were to feature the 2nd and 3rd seeds in their respective clashes. Alexander Zverev, the 2nd seed, was to face Lorenzo Sonego, while Daniil Medvedev, the 3rd seed, was to face Zhang Zhizhen.
Before the Halle Open, Alexander Zverev had a fantastic year. The German No. 1 and world No. 4 started the year with semifinal runs in the Australian Open and Los Cabos before getting knocked out in the first round of the Mexican Open in Acapulco. Zverev has played in five semifinals in 2024, two of which led to finals. He won the Italian Open before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in a highly contested 5-set French Open final.
At the point Daniil Medvedev entered the Halle Open, he had played in four semifinals, reaching two finals but losing to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open and Indian Wells Masters, respectively. The Russian’s recent form is below his standards, with three wins and two defeats in his last five matches before the Halle Open started.
Zverev Wins 1st Set With Command Of Court
From the first game of the first set of the penultimate Halle Open match of the day, Alexander Zverev stayed at the top of his game. His athleticism was on display at breakpoint when he chased down a sleek Lorenzo Sonego drop shot to score an even sleeker backhand slice at the net.
The German maestro continued his excellent court coverage and scintillating performance in the ninth game of the set. Zverev raced to a 0-30 lead. He quickly took a three-breakpoints lead after a fascinating passage of play ended with an exciting exchange at the net.
To the far left side of the court, he had chased down and returned a Sonego forehand before having to chase down a well-executed Sonego drop shot. Sonego then tried to lob him at the net, but the German responded with an overhead backhand volley, which sent Sonego to the corner of the net, opening up the entire court for Zverev to tap home the winner.
Sonego ended up saving all three breakpoints and holding his serve, but was no match for Alexander Zverev’s serve and volley combos to serve out the set.
Alexander Zverev Takes 2nd Set Tiebreak
In the first two games of the second set, both players dominated their serves, dropping just one point each on them. The subsequent two games were even more clinical with Lorenzo Sonego holding serve to love in just over three minutes and Alexander Zverev smashing three aces to hold his serve in just over a minute.
Both players played the longest game of the match in the seventh game, with Lorenzo Sonego canceling out an ace that brought up the game point with a double fault. After Sonego managed to hold his serve, Alexander Zverev breezed through his serve, starting and ending a two-minute game with aces.
Both players held their serves till the second set dragged into a tiebreak. Lorenzo Sonego raced into a 3-0 lead before Alexander Zverev clawed back to 3-3. Zverev took the advantage when he whizzed a crosscourt forehand past a diving Sonego and led the tiebreak 6-5.
The German eventually won the tiebreak a point later when his crosscourt forehand got returned into the net. Alexander Zverev will face Arthur Fils in the Halle Open quarterfinal.
Zhang Zhizhen Upsets Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev showed a tale of things to come when he fired a backhand volley into the net to gift Zhang Zhizhen a break of his serve in the sixth game of the first set. He returned a wide serve from the Chinese player into the net again in the ninth game of the set to give Zhizhen a 6-3 first-set win.
Medvedev struck back in the sixth game of the second set with a forehand Zhang couldn’t return to break the opposition’s serve. Zhang Zhizhen then double-faulted in the eighth game of the set to help kickstart Medvedev’s comeback. Zhang broke back immediately when a Medvedev double fault threw away a game point.
The Russian had the opportunity to bring up two match points on the Chinese’s serve in the 10th game of the deciding set, but the Chinese player won a tight exchange at the net to bring the score to 30-30. Medvedev eventually lost the match in a tiebreak after he fired a forehand shot past the baseline. Zhang Zhizhen will face Christopher Eubanks, who defeated Alexander Bublik, in the Halle Open quarterfinal.
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