Zverev survives Griekspoor marathon to advance

PARIS : 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.