Alexander Zverev faced some issues in his first match of the 2024 season, but ultimately, he did enough to win the match.
It was a pretty big match for Zverev, who, besides wanting to start the year with a win, needed to win the match to keep Germany alive against Italy in the United Cup. The first match of this tie was played earlier today, and Jasmine Paolini defeated Angelique Kerber, which made this match matter further.
Even without that, Zverev would have liked to kick off his season with a win because after all, you get points for this event. The opponent was Lorenzo Sonego, a really tricky player who can be very unpredictable.
You never know what's going to happen when you play against him, but Zverev quickly found out that the good Sonego showed up. The first set was incredibly close, even though both players pushed for a break.
We only saw one break point for Zverev in the entire set and yet he didn't win it. The tie-break was close, and Zverev had the upper hand for a while, but eventually, he lost it 7-5.
The second set featured better play from Zverev, who pushed from the start. He was able to eventually get the break and take the lead, which he kept until he won the second set 6-3.
He kept the momentum going at the start of the final set, taking an early 2-0 lead. That's all he really needed because his serve was good enough to keep him ahead for the rest of the set.
Sonego pushed hard, though, and came close to a break point a few times but ultimately never got it done. The final score was 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 for the German, who begins 2024 with a win and a hard-fought one.
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