Safe Landing: Zverev Survives Landaluce Examination in Vienna

Alexander Zverev survived a real test in the first round of Vienna as he had to save four match points to overcome an inspired Martin Landaluce 7-5, 3-6, 7-6.

Landaluce was perhaps a surprise main draw wildcard for quite a few people but he proved his worth throughout this defeat and showed signs of his potential with how far he was able to take someone as good as Zverev to the absolute limit. Here I will run through how the match travelled in what was one of the best matches of the season and certainly the best one during the indoor swing thus far.

Set 1 - Zverev edges a tight first set 7-5.

The biggest takeaway from the first set itself was that Landaluce was holding his own for long periods with Zverev from the back and even in a lot of the exchanges that did not necessarily suit him. But Landaluce's bad habits started to appear at 5-5 where he would commit some poor errors. One of them being a plus one forehand error into the net, another point saw a forehand error off a mid-length rally and then the break of serve comes from a total shank off the same wing.

In the below statistics of the first set you can see that Landaluce struck a total of eight forehand unforced errors over the course of a fairly long set of tennis. That is not a hugely detrimental number for someone who hits as aggressive as the Spaniard. But the context here is that three of those eight forehand unforced errors appeared inside the one game that proved costly. Timing was everything in that side but the rebound was impressive.

Also what is also quite notable is the fact that Zverev was winning 23 of the 42 baseline points which suggests already that the youngster was right there with him and being really competitive, which was not a guarantee going into it. Some of these statistics shift dramatically over the course of the contest anyhow.

Set 2 - Landaluce grows in stature and takes over the second set 6-3

The two points that I want to highlight next are really the two things that I think Landaluce did so well throughout this set. First of all he had the defiance and belief to be able to drive into the Zverev backhand strength without that much fear. I do not think he did this so regularly because of the lack of awareness of what the groundstroke is capable of. I think Landaluce did this because he was trusting in the damage that he could do if he backed himself on the day.

In this next video the Spaniard has so many opportunities in this tough rally to overplay, get nervous, go for too much against one of the best defenders in the higher echelons of the game and yet every single time he has the invitation to panic he does not. Landaluce concludes the point with a forehand that has won him many matches but will also win him many more. The significance here is not really the forehand winner, but how he did not blink before it. This was very unlike him.

Landaluce was definitely hitting his spots on serve from the second set with 46% of his serves going unreturned and the fact he was winning six of the nine points that go over nine shots is where the power of control moved in his favour. The youngster was able to live and sometimes get the better of the German in longer rallies, which would have been a surprise for many.

Set 3 - Zverev brings his best on the points that matter to save four match points en route to a classic victory

Zverev essentially edges this epic through his ability to play the big points at the level you would expect from someone who has won two majors this season. To do that when it felt like a lot of this match he was riding uphill is impressive. He executes a very strong unreturnable serve remarkably on a second serve on the first match point save of the tiebreak. He continued to be dependable on the big points.

Then on the second Landaluce match point at 8-7, Zverev once again alleviates the pressure with another serve that bails him out yet again.

Next we move onto the third match point save by Zverev and this is one I think you can be slightly critical to the young Spaniard. I believe there was definitely an opportunity quite early in the point to sneak in after his second successive forehand. I don't think it would be guaranteed he would have won the match by doing it or that it was necessarily high percentage either based on the quality of the approach.

I feel like Landaluce left a bit out there during this match point due to how bold and brave he was otherwise. This match point was way more tentative. Zverev does what he does best in the end. He gives absolutely nothing away until he outlasts his opponent on a big point.

Then as we get to 10-9 in a memorable 20 minute tiebreak, Zverev adds an exclamation point with an amazing ace to wipe away the final of four match points. In a match where it felt like the upset was definitely on, the soon-to-be World No.1 delivered the goods in the end.

Zverev is now two wins away from achieving the World No.1 ranking for the first time in his career, while Landaluce can take so much heart moving forward even in defeat now that he knows he has that level in him.