PARIS (Reuters) – World number four Alexander Zverev survived a marathon match to beat Tallon Griekspoor 3-6 6-4 6-2 4-6 7-6(3) in the French Open third round on Saturday and keep alive his hopes of a first Grand Slam title.
Zverev, semi-finalist for the last three years, had not dropped a set in his opening two matches, including a first- round win over Rafa Nadal, but he was on the back foot when the Dutch 26th seed won the opening set.
The German finally broke serve when leading 5-4 in the second set to level the match and made lighter work of the third set and when Griekspoor took a medical timeout it appeared that Zverev would have little trouble closing out victory.
The Dutch 27-year-old forced a deciding set, however, and held a 4-1 advantage after two breaks of serve before Zverev roared back to win four consecutive games.
Griekspoor kept his nerve to force a tiebreak, but after an enthralling match lasting over four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier, it was Zverev who fired down an ace to clinch the tiebreak.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
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