SASCHA SURVIVES! Alexander Zverev Battles Past Against Compatriot Oscar Otte at First Round of French Open 2021

The bottom-half of the men’s singles draw at French Open this year has already witnessed the shock exit of Dominic Thiem today. After two sets in another first-round match on court Suzanne Lenglen, it appeared as if Alexander Zverev might face the similar fate against compatriot Oscar Otte.

Oscar Otte dominated Zverev in first two sets at French Open 2021

The no.6 seed had a tough couple of sets as he allowed Otte to take control of the big points. But, there wasn’t much difference between the two players in terms of quality. While Otte was able to serve exceptionally when he was down break points, Zverev couldn’t do the same in the first two sets, and lost both 3-6,3-6.

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Even though the scoreboard shows huge difference in the number of games won by both players in the first couple of sets, it was Zverev’s way to say that he was settling into the match.

The next couple of sets were a reflection of how dominant an in-form Alexander Zverev can be. Having found his rhythm by the third set, the young German started hitting the balls more freely and even served better than the first two sets.

Just like most of Zverev’s matches, this contest also lacked some high octane rallies as each player was heavily dependent on their serves to steer through the scoreboard.

Alexander Zverev bounces back in the next three sets to win the match

While Otte managed to hit more winners in the first two sets, his domination slowly faded away in the next two once Zverev found his peak game. At the start of the fifth set, the 2020 US Open runner-up hit as many as 43 winners compared to Otte’s 37.Also, Zverev won more points on the first serve(74%) than Otte(65%).

With clean hitting and big first serves, Alexander Zverev won the third and fourth sets against Oscar Otte 6-2,6-2.

Coming to the fifth set, Otte failed to bounce back from that dismal performance in the previous two sets. His first serve percentage began to crumble as Zverev started to read his first serve clearly. The young German landed huge returns right on the baseline, forcing Otte to make numerous errors.

In no time, Zverev rose to a 5-0 lead in the set, and looked all set to win his first match at Roland Garros this year. Otte lost his momentum on serve in the fifth set and gave an easy chance for Alexander Zverev to close the match. The young German didn’t disappoint as he hit back-to-back winners to win the set and match 3-6,3-6,6-2,6-2,6-0.

It was a complete performance from the German after a disappointing first two sets. Zverev will most likely face the qualifier Roman Safiullin the second round on the Parisian clay.

Also read: “There Needs to Be Certain Code”: Roger Federer on Alexander Zverev and Team 8’s Split