Zverev Serves His Way Into Wimbledon Third Round

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev was strong on serve Thursday to sweep past American Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 45 minutes on No. 2 Court at The Championships, Wimbledon.

The German, who arrived for his sixth tilt at the Wimbledon trophy on the back of a second-round exit at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle (l. to Humbert), hit 13 aces and lost just 12 service points in his second ATP Head2Head meeting against Sandgren.

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Zverev will now challenge another American in 31st seed Taylor Fritz, who is returning from right knee surgery just three weeks ago, or Steve Johnson in the third round at the All England Club.

World No. 6 Zverev has compiled a 26-10 match record this year, including two ATP Tour titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (d. Tsitsipas) and the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Berrettini). Last month, he reached the Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Tsitsipas) and is currently in fourth position in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held from 14-21 November.

Zverev stepped up in the latter stages of the first set to force Sandgren into error at 5-5 and he went onto hit three consecutive winners to clinch the 40-minute opener. From 0-1 down in the second set, Zverev continued to apply the pressure to win five straight games. Having lost five service points in the first set (24/29), Zverev won all 16 on serve in the 30-minute second set, which ended with a forehand winner.

The 24-year-old carried the momentum into the third set, breaking serve at 1-1 when Sandgren made a backhand error. Sandgren, who failed to convert his lone break point in the next game, ended the match with his 25th unforced error.

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Are You Looking At Me?! Who’s On The End Of Murray’s Stare Down?

Andy Murray’s five-set victory against Oscar Otte on Wednesday evening was a typical Murray experience. There were many ups and downs, and he showed both positive and negative emotions. After finding a way through, the Scot lifted both arms as if he was a gladiator who just triumphed at the Colosseum.

“One of the reasons why I'm still playing is because of moments like that,” Murray said. “Why would you want to give that up? The atmosphere… was good the whole match, but especially the last hour-and-a-half was brilliant. I still enjoy that.”

Unreal atmosphere out there tonight… thanks so much to everyone that was in there watching and supporting.. you carried me over the line 👏 life in the old dog yet eh!🐕

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 30, 2021

Play was suspended early in the fourth set, with Murray down two sets to one. The two-time Wimbledon champion returned to Centre Court keen to use the crowd to his advantage.

“I picked a few people in the crowd and was basically staring at them pretty much after every point and trying to just engage with them,” Murray said. “The crowd created a great atmosphere, but I think I was also engaging them and we were feeding off each other a lot at the end.

“I’m aware in the moment. I know what a great atmosphere is in tennis. I have played in a few of them over the years, and that was definitely one of them. Obviously when the atmosphere is like that and things are going your way, it's a nice feeling.”

Murray spotted several fans whom he engaged with, including two guys with Scotland rugby shirts.

“They were just really loud and it was quite close to where I was getting my towel and stuff, and they were always sort of standing up,” Murray said. “Then there was the other guy that was down at near where the radio booths were. He was just standing up all the time and getting pumped and he just caught my eye.

“Each time I won a point, and even when I lost points [I] just [was] looking at him. The crowd feels that I guess and feel like you're feeding off them and stuff. It was nice. It helps. It's something I have done a number of times over the years in certain matches.

“I hope the fans like it and don't think that it's a bit weird that I'm sort of staring at them and screaming at them for like an hour, but they seem to enjoy it, as well.”

It will not get any easier for Murray, who will next play dynamic shotmaker Denis Shapovalov, who is seeded 10th. This will be their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

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