for his return to the Philippe-Chatrier, Alexander Zverev left only crumbs to Alex Molcan and will be in the third round

If apprehension accompanied Alexander Zverev when he made his comeback on a court he had left in a wheelchair last season, no soul present in the stands of Philippe-Chatrier could detect it. Particularly in legs, with a relaxed and powerful arm, the German was able, this time, to go to the end of his match, even flying over his meeting against the Slovak Alex Molcan. The outgoing semi-finalist won in three sets (6-4, 6-2, 6-1) in the second round of Roland-Garros on Thursday June 1.

After a gloomy start to the season, marked by an elimination in the second round of the Australian Open and courses stopped in the round of 16 of the five Masters 1000 in which he participated, then a narrow success in the first round of the Parisian Grand Slam , Alexander Zverev seems to be finding his game and his bearings.

Always very comfortable to hold exchanges posted behind his baseline – where he chained controlled slides, a sign that his right ankle injury does not inhibit him – the native of Hamburg did not hesitated to come up to the net to put pressure on his opponent and win the important points. Difficult for the Slovak to deceive a size as imposing (1.98m) as it is mobile.

Zverev, service winner

Short of solutions in the face of the accuracy of “Sascha” behind his line as on the fly, the 86th in the world lost his face-off twice at the start of the first and second set, without managing to come back. The German also offered him only one opportunity to break in the first two sets. And when the Slovak finally thought he could take advantage of a German downturn, his opponent erased each of his opportunities with an uncontrollable serve. At 4-1, the world number 27 dismissed six break points before winning his face-off after more than twelve long minutes of battle. And then spun to victory.

The 26-year-old German therefore continues on his way. In the third round, he will have to dismiss the American Frances Tiafoe, winner of the Russian Aslan Karatsev in four sets (3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2) to advance towards his dream: a first Grand Slam, him whose best result is a final at the US Open in 2020.