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Wimbledon: Zverev battles illness to stay in contention

Jonathan Harding
July 6, 2018

Alexander Zverev is daring to make good on his ability and make a charge for his first Grand Slam. Serena Williams and Roger Federer continued their fine form, but there were more upsets on day five of Wimbledon 2018.

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Wimbledon Championships 2018 | Alexander Zverev (Deutschland)
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Kirk

Viewed as a capable successor to the era of the big four, Alexander Zverev is hoping to finally win a Grand Slam. After reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open earlier this year, the 21-year-old is hoping to go even further on the Wimbledon grass.

Zverev's tournament nearly ended before it got started when in his second round match against American Taylor Fritz, though. When bad light stopped played on Thursday, Zverev trailed Fritz by two sets to one.

"Yesterday was tough for several reasons, I had a stomach virus, went to bathroom at the end of the second set and threw up, and last night I didn't eat anything," Zverev admitted. "Today in the warmup I was actually maybe thinking about it, not to play at all. I was very low energy. I didn't eat anything since yesterday. But then I thought, Well, if I don't feel well, it's going to be one set. If I feel better, it might be two. Thought I'd go out there and try."

Nevertheless, a determined performance from the fourth seed after the restart saw him lose just three games on his way to a 6-4, 5-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory that will see him face Latvia's Ernests Gulbis next.


The tall, big-serving, powerful hitting German has to slowly make good on his promise. Even though he's still young, his ability has already been complimented by Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. After Germany's football team suffered a shock World Cup exit, Zverev is hoping to bring some sporting to joy to his country this summer.

Elsewhere

Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber didn't have as much fortune, falling to US Open finalist Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. Venus Williams lost to Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 2-6, 7-6, 6-8 in a three-set marathon, but her sister Serena continues to go from strength to strength. In a tough match, Williams overcame a slow start to show fight in a 7-5, 7-6 win.

The same was true for Roger Federer, who saw off Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets to reach the second week of the tournament for the 16th time in his career. Gael Monfils made the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time ever, beating Sam Querrey in four sets.

jh (Reuters, AFP)