ANDY MURRAY, DEL POTRO REMAIN ON COLLISION COURSE AT 2017 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS • ALEXANDER ZVEREV LOSES

Written by: Staff on 30th May 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

ANDY MURRAY, DEL POTRO REMAIN ON COLLISION COURSE AT 2017 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS • ALEXANDER ZVEREV LOSES

epa05999061 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in action against Guido Pella of Argentina during their men?s 1st round single match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 30 May 2017. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT |

Murray, Del Potro remain on collision course at French Open, Zverev out

By Ricky Dimon

The top half of the men’s singles draw at the French Open is unquestionably the softer of the two. That was already the case even with recent Rome champion Alexander Zverev still alive.

Alive is no longer Zverev’s status at Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old German bowed out on Tuesday afternoon, losing a darkness-postponed first-round contest against Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Zverev and Verdasco split sets on Monday night before being forced to stop due to dying light. Thus it essentially became a best-of-three struggle approximately 16 hours later. Zverev pocketed an early break in the third set, but it went downhill for her from there and he eventually surrendered after two hours and 52 minutes spanning the two days.

“I played absolute shit made the difference,” Zverev admitted. “It’s quite simple.

“[Verdasco] played very well. He played very smart, as well; tried to push me back a lot, which he did. And I didn’t feel the ball on my racket very well, so I played very short and very defensive all the time–which with my game and with my body, it’s not easy to do.”

Andy Murray of Britain plays against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia during their men’s 1st round single match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 30 May 2017. EPA/YOAN VALAT

World No. 1 and former French Open runner-up Andy Murray got the job done in his first-rounder and may be considered the favorite in the top half to make a return trip to the title–especially now that Zverev’s hopes have come to an abrupt end. He defeated Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 after picking up the pace over sets three and four.

“It was a decent start, considering obviously how I played in the buildup,” Murray noted. “It was good towards the end. It was better. I still think I can do some things a bit better than I did today obviously. I will try to keep that going. I was just trying to get through the match today.”

It will not get any easier for the top-seeded Scot, who could meet Juan Martin Del Potro as early as the third round. Del Potro advanced on Tuesday in simple fashion, getting the best of an all-Argentine date with Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

“I can say my level is high after my return, because I have a high ranking after my comeback,” Del Potro explained. “I’m top 30 in the world. I won the first round [of a] Grand Slam after (missing the French Open the last) five years, and I already made quarterfinals in a Masters 1000 (Rome) after long time. And I think I’m playing good tennis on the surface where I don’t feel [my best].”