Alexander Zverev survived yet another three-set battle at the ATP
China Open in his quarter-final match against
Nicolas Jarry, winning the match 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
The World No. 10 is yet to make it past a player at the ATP 500 tournament in straight sets but it doesn't seem to be stopping him from getting results. He booked his place in the semi-final at the National Tennis Center in Beijing after a topsy-turvy match against the Chilean big hitter.
At the beginning of the match, it looked like Zverev was set to move past Jarry with ease. He was utterly dominant throughout, with a solid serve and an answer to everything. Meanwhile, the World No. 23 seemed like a bystander as his opponent built up a double break and a 5-0 lead. While Jarry was able to win his final service game of the set, it was nowhere near enough to bring it back and Zverev won the first set 6-1.
Jarry fights back to push match to three sets
However, Jarry was determined not to let the match simply slip away from him and he fought back hard in the second set. The 27-year-old came back from 30-0 down to hold his first two service games while both of Zverev's went to a deuce which the German player held.
Both players continued to hold their serve, with some impressive rallies along the way until Jarry took it to 6-5 to ensure a tiebreak at least. This was confirmed when Zverev held again and the players battled it out for the second set as the former tried to get back in the match and the latter tried to wrap it up quickly.
In the tiebreak, Zverev won the first mini-break but Jarry came back to win two points on Zverev's serve. However, a strong backhand from the 26-year-old led Jarry to hit the ball into the net and level the tiebreak at 4-4. Ultimately, Jarry brought it back to a 6-5 lead and clinched the second set.
Zverev pushes back in decider
Jarry got his first break point of the match in Zverev's second service game in the decider but lost it after Zverev sent him running across the court and displayed his powerful serve.
Then it was Zverev's turn to get break points as he went up 40-15 in Jarry's service game. He lost his first one after Jarry cleared it away but capitalized on the second to move up in the final set.
From there, all Jarry could do was avoid a double break as Zverev held firm in his service games until he could serve for the set and the match. At the end, Zverev had triple match point and quickly converted this into a spot in the semi-final where he will face second seed Daniil Medvedev.