The win for the world No 7 keeps his chances to reach the semi-finals alive. It also means that Novak Djokovic will qualify for the last four if he beats Daniil Medvedev in straight-sets on Wednesday evening.
Wednesday 18 November 2020 18:46, UK
Alexander Zverev kept his tournament hopes alive with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday at the season-ending ATP Finals.
The result means that Daniil Medvedev can advance to the semi-finals if he beats Novak Djokovic later in the day. The world No 1 would advance with a match to spare, if he dispatches Medvedev in straight sets.
Zverev came into the encounter with Schwartzman off the back of what he had described as one of his worst matches of the season on Monday, a straight-sets loss to Medvedev.
He quickly looked to put things right and went 6-3 3-1 up, before Schwartzman battled back and found his groove to take the second set.
However, Zverev channelled his frustration and moved through the gears again in the final set. A positive run, which featured him getting 89 per cent of first serves in, helped him to move towards the finish line.
He then secured five of the last six games to seal a victory that ensured he stayed in contention for the semi-finals.
"It was much better than on Monday. Diego's a very difficult player and he deserves to be here, that's why there are no easy matches," Zverev said during his on-court interview.
"I'm happy to get the win, I'm happy to give myself a chance to go into the semi-finals. I'm excited for Friday, it's going to be the most difficult match you can have here, playing Novak.
"We have met twice here already, so I'm looking forward to it."
Zverev also shared that he hadn't let himself look too far ahead and ponder how to combat the world No 1 before this encounter.
"I haven't [thought about that yet]. First, I had to try and beat Diego and that was my main focus.
"I said from the beginning of the week that I'm going to improve with every match, because after the small injury I had in Paris, I needed to recover a little bit and get back into the rhythm. Hopefully, I can play even better on Friday.
"Right now, it's just a regular tournament for me, I need to win every match otherwise I'm out. I'm going to go in with that mindset, I had that mindset today and I did my job."
Schwartzman has had his best results on clay, including a run to the semi-finals of the French Open last month, so he was always likely to have his work cut out to win matches this week.
He said: "I have to learn about this tournament. Everything is new. Today I think I did better but in this surface, they like the surface. I think most of the guys who are here, the best surface they play is indoor courts, and I think at the end today it made the difference. But I'm happy because I improved."
Medvedev and Djokovic will take to court at 8pm for the second singles match of the day in Group Tokyo 1970.
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