Alexander Zverev overcomes Sebastian Baez match point to win five-set epic in French Open second round

Alexander Zverev faced a match point and recovered to come back from two sets down to beat Sebastian Baez 2-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 7-5 in the French Open second round. Zverev knew he would be up against a tough opponent, with Baez rated as one of the highest regarded up and coming talents, having only missed out on seeding by one ranking point. Ad/> But the Olympic champion was in good form, going into Roland Garros having reached the final at the Madrid Open and semi-final and Italian Open, respectively.

He had also beaten Baez in Rome earlier this month. /> Roland-Garros'What a fightback' — Zverev outduels Baez in five gruelling sets at French OpenAN HOUR AGO Baez made a rapid start, though. The 21-year-old broke in the first game of the match and followed that up with a double break in the fifth game, leaving Zverev rattled.

The third seed did get on the board, but the Argentine took the opener 6-2. It was not a blip. Baez raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set, breaking to 30 and to love in successive Zverev service games to give him a cushion the German struggled to battle back from.

He did recover one break in the sixth game but suddenly Baez found himself one set from victory, with a two set lead — meaning his bigger name opponent would need to go five to keep his title hopes alive. Zverev is an Olympic gold medallist for a reason, though, and he fought back impressively at the start of the third, breaking in the second game as Baez began to show nerves for the first time in the match. The world no.