Alexander Zverev gets smashed by Lehecka at United Cup

Alexander Zverev did not play a very good tennis match in his first United Cup appearance as rising Czech star Jiri Lehecka comfortably beat him 6-4 6-2.

Zverev had some moments during the exhibition events leading up to the new season but it's clear that he's still struggling with his tennis. It was expected and he talked about it a lot before this event. In this match, Zverev struggled in many ways. The serve was a problem as he committed double faults which was bad.

He was very vulnerable on his second serve as Lehecka won the overwhelming majority of those points. He also struggle to stay in rallies against the very confident youngster who served better but also stayed consistent. Zverev actually opened well forcing some early break points but failed to convert them.

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Eventually, Lehecka broke him to win the opening set 6-4 and everything kind of fell apart after that. It was a bad loss but also one from which Zverev will learn as he continues his comeback. The priority is to play well in time for the Australian Open.