
via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 19, 2022 Germany’s Alexander Zverev celebrates winning his second round match against Australia’s John Millman REUTERS/Loren Elliott

via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 19, 2022 Germany’s Alexander Zverev celebrates winning his second round match against Australia’s John Millman REUTERS/Loren Elliott
It was a weird day of tennis for fans in Mexico as two back-to-back marathon matches were on display at the ATP Acapulco Open. The first one involved Grigor Dimitrov and American youngster Stefan Kozlov. The second match was between Alexander Zverev and Jensen Brooksby.
Zverev, who entered Acapulco as the defending champion, appeared to be in a bit of fix earlier in the 2022 ATP season as his performances didn’t live up to the expectations. For a while, the German star was touted to be a Grand Slam champion and the pressure of not performing in majors got to him in Australia as he bowed out to Denis Shapovalov in the quarters.

via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 19, 2022 Germany’s Alexander Zverev in action during his second round match against Australia’s John Millman REUTERS/James Gourley
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Alexander Zverev becomes part of ATP history in opening round match at ATP Acapulco
Coming to the match against Brooksby today in Acapulco, it was a high-quality contest where Zverev won the first set. Just when things appeared to run smoothly for the German, Brooksby decided to tight things out as he stepped up his game and took the second set to a tie-breaker.
The rising American star edged past Alexander Zverev in the breaker and forced a deciding third set. Owing to a marathon match before involving Dimitrov and Kozlov, it was well past midnight in Mexico as people in the stands started to move out one after the other.
This match-up registered an unusual history on ATP tour by becoming the latest ever finish to a men’s singles match. Previously, the record was held by Lleyton Hewitt and Marcus Baghdatis at 2008 Australian Open.
⏱ 4:35am: Tennis history in Acapulco! @AlexZverev vs @JensonBrooksby will now be the latest EVER finish to an ATP tennis match – eclipsing Hewitt v Baghdatis at the 2008 Aus Open (4.34am) 😮 pic.twitter.com/ZXqCZrMC57
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 22, 2022
However, the duo continued to play with same intensity in the first few games of the third before Brooksby lost his serve as it was enough for the German to seal a three-set victory early in the morning.
During the match, another incident took place as Alexander Zverev could be seen asking for some food from his stands in order to get the energy going.
“Do you have half a chicken out there?”, the German asked his box in the middle of the match.
“There it goes. But don’t take it all in now,” comes the suggestion from his team.
— Reacciones Tenis (@ReaccionesATP) February 22, 2022
After the match, the German kept the interview brief as he felt happy to be a part of ATP history.
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“I’m happy to be part of history. It was an incredible battle and it was an incredible match.”
"I'M HAPYY TO BE PART OF HISTORY. IT WAS AN INCREIDBLE BATTLE AND IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE MATCH' – #zverev after being told his match is the latest to ever finish on the ATP Tour.
— Adam_Addicott (@AdamAddicott) February 22, 2022
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In every sense, it was a great battle from Sascha Zverev as he moves one step further in his title defense at Acapulco.
Also read: ‘Clear Favourite to Win the Laureus Award’: Boris Becker Makes a Bizarre Statement on Novak Djokovic
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