Alexander Zverev's last Grand Slam participation was a disaster and he certainly wants to forget it at the 2023 Australian Open.
The disaster wasn't the performance of the German, as he reached semifinals of the 2022 Roland Garros, it was what happened in that match. Zverev played a very good match against Rafael Nadal, when he suffered a horrible injury that kept him out of play until 2023.
In his first major match since the clay-court Grand Slam, he played against a lucky loser from the qualifying draw, Juan Pablo Varillas from Peru, and the match wasn't an easy one for Zverev as many predicted.
Varillas started the match very well, when he avoided being broken in the first set, and used one of his chances to break his more experienced rival and win the first set 6-4.
But Zverev showed why he was the favourite in the second set. He lost only two points on his serve, hit six aces and totally dominated his opponent. The German won it 6-1 and looked to continue in a similar fashion also in the upcoming sets.
However, despite leading by a break twice in the third set, Varillas was able to pull of a few solid games once a gain, to win the third set 7-5 and come only one set away from stunning former world no. 2.
But Zverev fought and he fought really well. In the remainder of the match, he didn't allow his opponent to have any break points, as he won 94% of points after his first serve. He added a few solid returns and eventually beat his opponent.
In four hours and nine minutes, Zverev won the match 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 and advanced to the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. He will play against another lucky loser Michael Mmoh or qualifier Laurent Lokoli
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