ATP Tour

Zverev zones in to complete Lehecka win, reach first Wimbledon QF

Alexander Zverev pulled through some tough moments to wrap a two-day victory against Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.

The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zverev led No. 14 Lehecka by two sets on Monday evening when the pair’s fourth-round encounter was suspended due to darkness at 3-3 in the third set. Lehecka came out the blocks quickly when the match resumed on Tuesday afternoon, but Zverev dialled in to earn a 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6) triumph.

“Who would have thought it would only have taken me 12 years to get there?” Zverev joked in his on-court interview when asked about finally reaching the last eight at SW19. “I’m incredibly happy, incredibly relieved to have achieved that, but of course I want to play a few more matches here.

“It was a fantastic match that lasted two days and of course it is never easy to come back the following day. I thought he played amazing today, so credit to him for keeping the fight up and making it very difficult today.”

Despite his slow start that cost him the third set on Tuesday morning, Zverev soon found his rhythm and won 87 per cent (27/31) of points behind his first serve in the fourth set. Although he let slip three match points in the tie-break, including with a double-fault at 5/6, his relentless consistency from the baseline proved too much for Lehecka.

“For me it was a bit difficult [to start again today],” Zverev reflected. “I lost the first three games and gave away the third set, but again he came out playing incredible tennis and came out swinging. Credit to him, I think he did a fantastic job. I’m happy to be through in four sets and not having to play another set today.”

Zverev, who was 0-3 in fourth-round matches at Wimbledon prior to this year, will take on a familiar face in the quarter-finals: sixth seed Taylor Fritz. The American leads Zverev 10-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will enter Wednesday’s encounter on a seven-match winning streak against the German.

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The 29-year-old Zverev will nonetheless carry plenty of Grand Slam confidence into his clash with Fritz. Having lifted his maiden major title last month at Roland Garros, the German is now on an 11-match winning streak at Grand Slam level.