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Zverev through after Dzumhur scare

By The Assam Tribune

PARIS, June 1: Second seed Alexander Zverev was forced to save a match point before beating Damir Dzumhur in five sets to reach the fourth round of the French Open.

The German was given all sorts of problems by the world number 29 from Bosnia-Herzegovina before winning 6-2 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

It is a second five-set win in a row for the 21-year-old.

Zverev, who is into the last 16 for the first time, showed a worrying lack of consistency against Dzumhur, hitting 73 unforced errors, dropping his serve eight times and serving seven double faults,

Dzumhur served for the match at 6-5 up in the fourth set but was broken to love and Zverev kept the match alive by winning the tie-break.

In a drama-filled match, the German led 4-2 in the fifth set only for his opponent to break back and then go 5-4 up.

The pressure was on Zverev and he had to save the match point on his own serve before making it 5-5.

The scare seemed to inspire him and he broke his opponent one more time before serving out for the win.

Spain�s aging tennis pro Fernando Verdasco, 34, on Friday stunned a leading player in his prime, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 27, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the last 16 of the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the season, held on clay court.

Verdasco needed two hours and 21 minutes to advance past Dimitrov into the fourth round for the seventh time in his 15th participation in the tournament, reports Efe.

Verdasco, world No. 35, coped with world No. 5 Dimitrov�s winners, controlling the serve points, only conceding his service game three times out of ten opportunities.

Dimitrov, the 2017 ATP Finals champion, conceded his serve once but broke his rival�s serve, forcing the set into a tie break.

Dimitrov took a 3-1 lead in the tie break, but he eventually lost six out of the next seven points to fall one set behind.

The Spaniard seized total control of the match in the second set, as he held serve, despite facing two break points, and made the most of two out of three break points to double the lead.

Two service breaks in the third set were not enough for Dimitrov, as he conceded his own three times, to lose for the third time against Verdasco in five career matches.

Eyeing his first quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, Verdasco is set to take on either Serbia�s Novak Djokovic or Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.

United States� Madison Keys on Friday defeated Japan�s Naomi Osaka 6-1,

7-6 (9-7) at the third round of Roland Garros, a grand slam tournament on clay court.

Keys, the world No. 13, took an hour and 23 minutes to qualify for the last-of-16 fourth round, reports Efe.

The 23-year-old fired 30 winners and three aces, compared to Osaka�s eight winners and single ace.

In the upcoming round, Keys is set to take on the winner of the match between Ukraine�s Elina Svitolina and Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania.

Meanwhile, Russia�s Daria Kasatkina overcame Greece�s Maria Sakkari 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to also march into the French Open fourth round.

Earlier, Two-time champion Maria Sharapova edged closer to a possible French Open last-16 duel with old rival Serena Williams today as top seed Simona Halep and 2016 winner Garbine Muguruza breezed into the third round.

Sharapova, the 2012 and 2014 champion in Paris, needed five match points to see off Croatia�s Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4 in a tie which featured 10 breaks of serve. � Agencies

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