Alexander Zverev staying positive after surviving another massive scare

Tennis365 01 Jun 2019 6:40 PM

Fifth seed Alexander Zverev surrendered a two-set lead before summoning the energy to defeat Serbia’s Dušan Lajović in a five-set epic.

Zverev eventually prevailed 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2 and he is staying upbeat despite spending a lot of hours on the court yet again.

The young German began sluggishly and looked frustrated after going down 3-1 in the first set.

The three-time Masters 1000 winner saved a break point to hold serve. A series of unforced errors and sloppy service games saw Lajović broken twice as Zverev stormed back from 4-2 down to take the first set 6-4.

Zverev carried that momentum into the second set breaking Lajovic again before sealing the second set 6-2.

In the third set, Zverev became more passive as Monte Carlo Masters finalist Lajović fought back to take the third set 6-4.

Zverev continued to go into meltdown in the fourth set as Lajovic thundered winners past the German before taking the set 6-1.

Lajović began to wane physically and Zverev summoned the strength to win the decider 6-2 and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The two clashed in a slightly similar five-set epic last year at the French Open as Zverev came back from two sets to one down to triumph.

Positivity is 🔑

Alexander Zverev's effort to be positive with himself, with the game, and with the tournament is clearly working. He's on to week 2!#RG19 @Jon_Wertheim pic.twitter.com/MuRUdAL3aw

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2019

“Obviously another five-set win is great for me. I am happy to be through and I am happy to be in the second week,” he said.

“It was a great match, great opponent so it was a great fight.”

He added: “I’m trying to be very positive with myself with how I play the games. I try to keep doing that after every match. I try to say something that I have done well. It’s working out so far.”

Next up for Zverev is Monte Carlo Masters champion Fabio Fognini who beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut in four sets triumphing 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

The first set was a battle of attrition as Fognini played some quite brilliant tactical clay-court tennis.