Alexander Zverev survives Griekspoor scare, reaches fourth round in Shanghai | ATP Tour

Match Report

Zverev survives Griekspoor scare, reaches fourth round in Shanghai

Second seed to face Goffin next 

October 08, 2024

Alexander Zverev held his nerve to survive the scare posed by Tallon Griekspoor, sealing victory on the seventh match point in an absorbing third-round clash at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

With the triumph, Zverev is into the fourth round of a ninth consecutive ATP Masters 1000, still alive in his quest for a second title of 2024.

The World No. 3 regrouped from an out-of-sorts second set to prevail 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(2) and extend his lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series to 5-1.

Zverev, who reached the 2019 final in Shanghai, will next face David Goffin, who is into the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time since the 2022 Madrid Open. The 33-year-old Belgian rallied back from a set deficit to overcome American Marcos Giron 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a gripping encounter.

Zverev’s resilience came to the fore in the dying embers of the opening set, converting his second break point to swing the match in his favour. The German, however, failed to capitalise on the momentum in an error-strewn set.

Bidding to continue his streak of reaching the fourth round of all ATP Masters 1000s in 2024, Zverev mustered up some of his most gutsy tennis to seal victory via a thrilling deciding-set tie-break.