Alexander Zverev regroups to hold off impressive Brandon Nakashima
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Published 02/09/2020 at 20:18 GMT
He may have lost but 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima looks to have a very bright future
Alexander Zverev of Germany serves the ball during his Men's Singles second round match against Brandon Nakashima of the United States on Day Three of the 2020 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 2, 2020 in the Queens
Image credit: Getty Images
Fifth seed Alex Zverev survived a scare against talented teenager Brandon Nakashima but made it through to the third round of the US Open with a 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Both players relied on their serving as Zverev only broke in the 11th game of the opening set before serving out to take the lead.
But 19-year-old Nakashima fought back and forced a tie-break in the second set. He had two set points at 5-4 and then four more in the tie-break, before winning it 10-8 after Zverev spurned a set point of his own.
However, if anything losing the second set seemed to wake Zverev up.
He took the third set 6-3 in professional fashion before a comprehensive performance saw him wrap things up 6-1 in the fourth.
Zverev was typically destructive on his first serve, sending down 25 aces, whilst his opponent relied more on his second serve, winning an impressive 60 per cent.
The German will face Adrian Mannarino or Jack Sock in the next round.
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