World No.10 Alexander Zverev navigates challenging opener in Rolex Paris Masters 2023

Alexander Zverev survived a tough first-round battle against qualifier Marton Fucsovics at the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters, winning the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

World No. 10 Zverev got his campaign at the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year off to a good start despite not playing at his best against the World No. 52. At the beginning of the match, both players held firm and stayed on serve until Fucsovics built up three break and set points at 5-4.

The Hungarian player then successfully clinched the opener after a double fault from Zverev, putting the tenth seed at risk of another early exit after he was ousted from the Shanghai Masters and the Japan Open in the first round earlier this month.

However, Zverev was far from done and fought back hard in the second set. He was able to fend off several challenges from Fucsovics, including a deuce in his first service game. After staying even for the majority of the set once again, it was the German player who found himself with two break points at 5-5.

He managed to successfully convert these in order to serve for the set. From there, he was able to force a decider, with the match swinging back in his favor.

Zverev started the final set confidently, taking his opponent's first service game to a deuce before getting an early break. However, Fucsovics retaliated with a break of his own in the very next game to level the set at 1-1.

From there, the battle remained tight until Zverev pushed ahead again with a break point at 4-4. Crucially, he was able to convert it and put himself in a position to serve for the match, where powerful hitting helped him to win match point and book his place in the next round.