Alexander Zverev’s Grand Slam struggles continue in US Open third round defeat against Philipp Kohlschreiber
The German added Ivan Lendl to his coaching team to improve his Grand Slam fortunes but suffered a familiar third-round exit at the hands of his compatriot
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Your support makes all the difference.Alexander Zverev recruited Ivan Lendl to his coaching team with the aim of improving his performances at Grand Slam events, but the world No 4 suffered another disappointing defeat when he was beaten 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 by his fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber here at the US Open on Saturday night.
It was the third time this year that the hugely talented 21-year-old has gone out in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. The only exception was the French Open, where he reached the quarter-finals.
Zverev has already won nine titles on the main tour, including three at Masters Series level, but it was his continuing struggles in Grand Slam tournaments that led to his recruitment of Lendl. Like Andy Murray, the player he coached to two Wimbledon triumphs and the title here, Lendl suffered a number of disappointments at Grand Slam level before becoming a champion.
“I took Ivan to do well at Slams, but this is a process,” Zverev said after losing in three hours in Louis Armstrong Stadium. “You can't expect to see the results immediately. I think the results will come hopefully next year.”
He added: “I didn't play my best throughout the whole match, I thought. But credit to him, he played very smart, a good match I thought.”
Zverev denied that he was a different player at tour events compared with the Grand Slam tournaments, pointing out that he had lost recently to Robin Haase in Cincinnati and to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto.
“There's a lot of focus on the Grand Slams,” he said. “I've obviously done well in Paris, but not at the other Grand Slams this year, maybe for different reasons.
“In Australia I played against Hyeon Chung, who played very well. At Wimbledon I was still recovering from an injury. Here I played a good opponent. I just couldn't find my best game today.”
How had Lendl reacted to this defeat? “He said that it's a process of getting there,” Zverev said. “It's a process of playing well at Slams. He told me before the tournament started: ‘Hopefully you'll do very well at the US Open, but we're more looking towards next year. We're more looking towards being at the latter stages, competing for Slams, next year’.”
Kohlschreiber, the world No 34, now plays Kei Nishikori, who beat Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. The 34-year-old German is through to the last 16 for the fifth time but has never gone any further.
Novak Djokovic eased into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Richard Gasquet in just over two hours. “It was a great match from the beginning to the end,” Djokovic said after beating Gasquet for the 13th time in their 14 meetings.
Djokovic now faces Portugal’s Joao Sousa, who beat Lucas Pouille 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. “He's a fighter, he's a grinder,” Djokovic said. “He will not hand you the victory. You've got to earn it.”
Former champion Marin Cilic withstood a tremendous challenge from Australian teenager Alex De Minaur to reach the fourth round in one of the latest finishes in the tournament's history.
As the clock hit 2.22am at Flushing Meadows, Cilic finally clinched a 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory on his eighth match point.
Little known prior to a breakthrough Australian summer, De Minaur has risen rapidly this season and showed the speed and fighting spirit that mark him out as one of the brightest hopes among the next generation.
For two sets, Cilic could not match him but the 2014 champion broke early in the third set and clawed his way back into the match.
The Croatian was on the brink of victory at 5-2 as he forced five match points on the De Minaur serve but the 19-year-old saved them all, and then one more before breaking Cilic back.
However, three more match points arrived in the 12th game and this time the Australian's resistance ran out.
Cilic said of his opponent: "Incredible fighting spirit, he was fighting his heart out and it was just an insane match. What a comeback he made from 5-2. He played some amazing tennis and really a couple of points were taking him away from the victory. I was just a little bit luckier today."
The match fell four minutes short of the record for the latest finish of 2.26am, which was set by Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors in 1993 and then matched in 2012 by Philipp Kohlschreiber and John Isner and 2014 by Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
Cilic moves through to a clash with 10th seed David Goffin on Monday.
Additional reporting by PA
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