Zverev Makes Comeback On Krajinovic At Hamburg, Thiem Ousted

Down a set and with his opponent serving 5-3 in the second at his home event of Hamburg, Alexander Zverev rose up to the challenge and turned the tables on Filip Krajinovic for a thrilling 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory. The German took 10 of the last 12 games to reach the semifinals.

“The crowd helped me. The crowd gave me energy. The crowd got me through that one,” Zverev said. “I didn’t break him one time before the 5-3 game in the second set and it’s all for the city, it’s all for the crowd, and I’m happy to be through.

“I didn’t play my best. I wasn’t playing well at all and I had to turn it around somehow,” Zverev said. “I found my rhythm and I started playing much more aggressive, changed my tactics a little bit and it all worked out.”

Zverev will now face Nikolaz Basilashvili tomorrow. The Georgian continued his title defense bested Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-3.

Top seeded Dominic Thiem fell by the racquet of Andrey Rublev 7-6(3), 7-6(5). It was the 21-year-old Rublev’s first career Top 5 win.

“In my opinion, he is the best player on clay after Rafa,” said Rublev. “So, of course to have a match like this is something special and for sure I hope that it will give me the confidence and I will keep working and keep improving… I was just saying to myself that it’s going to be a match [about] who is going to try to be more aggressive.”

Thiem led 4-2 in the first set and served for the opener at 5-3.

“The match was basically under my control and then I did some pretty stupid things in that game, let him back into the match,” said Thiem of the 4-2 lead. “After that, I played an unbelievable game to break him again for 5-3 and then the game at 5-3 he also played very well, so that doesn’t bother me too much.

“In the second set, I didn’t have many chances on his serve. And the tie-break, at 3-1, maybe I got a little bit unlucky and then I made some mistakes and that was it. But the reason why I lost the match was in the first set.”

Ahead for Rublev is a date Saturday against Pablo Carreno Busta who was a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) over Fabio Fognini.

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