Erste Bank Open

Nail-biting victory in Vienna: Zverev stumbles but doesn’t fall

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27.10.2026 09:17
Porträt von krone Sport
Von krone Sport

Alexander Zverev stumbles but doesn’t fall. The German tennis superstar scraped his way into the next round after a thrilling three-set thriller against Spanish youngster Martin Landaluce. The 29-year-old prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (13-11 in the tiebreak) and kept his cool in a dramatic finish. 

Alexander Zverev narrowly escaped elimination on Tuesday in Vienna. The top-seeded German fended off four match points in the first round of the Erste Bank Open after a sensational fightback by the highly talented 20-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce and, after 3:05 hours, converted his fifth to defeat the world No. 67 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(11) over the world No. 67. Earlier, Carlos Alcaraz had kicked off the tennis tournament with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

“He pushed me to my absolute limit”
“What a player—unbelievable. This is his first year on the tour. He had one of the best forehands in the world today and made hardly any mistakes,” Zverev praised his opponent, adding, “He pushed me to my absolute limit.” And it was arguably one of the most thrilling first-round matches of recent years at the Wiener Stadthalle. The 9,800 fans certainly got their money’s worth, as Landaluce—playing on a wild card—showed no respect in his first matchup against Zverev and impressed with very aggressive tennis.

Landaluce, who shares the same manager as Carlos Alcaraz—Albert Molina—fought his way back time and again. In a particularly hard-fought final set, he first fended off two match points at 5–6 and, after 2 hours and 43 minutes, deservedly forced the decisive tiebreak. In the tiebreak, the massive underdog was already leading 5–2 before an unreturnable net-roller by Zverev allowed the German to tie the score at 5–5. He didn’t let that rattle him and had the first of four match points at 6–5. The same was true at 8–7, 9–8, and 10–9. But in the end, the lucky winner was the tournament’s top star.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

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