21-year-old German to meet seventh seed Dominic Thiem next
Monday 4 June 2018 13:40, UK
Alexander Zverev reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after a third consecutive five-set victory against Karen Khachanov at the French Open.
Both players were bidding to reach the last-eight stage at a major for the first time in their careers but it was Zverev, who recorded a 4-6 7-6(7-4) 2-6 6-3 6-3 win in three hours and 29 minutes.
Zverev, who won back-to-back titles in Munich and Madrid during the clay court season, becomes the youngest quarter-finalist at Roland Garros since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.
"In two days' time I will be playing in the quarter-finals here, and I'm happy about that," said Zverev.
"But I hope I can win more matches here. I hope this is not the end here.
"Physically, obviously it's not easy to play, you know, back-to-back-to-back five-set matches, but I will manage it somehow. I will do everything."
In a meeting between the two youngest players remaining in the men's singles it was the 22-year-old Khachanov who secured a decisive second break to win the first set.
After squandering two break-point chances, Zverev made amends in the Russian's following service game in the second set to take command but Khachanov hit back on his fifth break point when the German served for the second set to secure the break back.
Despite the setback Zverev won an assured tiebreak, which included back-to-back backhand winners in the early stages, only for Khachanov to regain the upper hand in the match with two breaks in the third set.
The fourth set saw a pivotal momentum change as Khachanov failed to take advantage of two break points in the fifth game before Zverev secured a break in the following game, before the second seed saved a further two break points to force a deciding set.
Zverev started the final set in fine fashion as he consolidated an immediate break with a serviced hold and avoided facing any break points to secure a notable success.
Dominic Thiem will next face the German world No 3 after the Austrian avoided being taken into a fifth set of his own as he thwarted a revival by Kei Nishikori to progress 6-2 6-0 5-7 6-4.
The 24-year-old, back-to-back semi-finalist at Roland Garros, raced through the opening two sets with ease as Nishikori recorded 16 unforced errors and struggle and was put on the back foot by Thiem's greater baseline aggression.
Nishikori showed good determination to work his way back into the contest in the third set and took his solitary break point opportunity to force a deciding set.
Despite 12 unforced errors from the Thiem racket, it was the seventh seed who held his nerve to secure the only break of the final set and progress after two hours and 28 minutes on court.
"It's going to be a very tough match against him. He's going to be pumped. It's his first quarter-finals. So he wants to move on, for sure," said Thiem.
"So I hope I'm a little bit more experienced in this one."
