Alexander Zverev and Jenson Brooksby closed the first day of the Mexican Open in Acapulco 2022 with a match of 3 hours 18 minutes that was held until early morning (22/2) local time.
The reigning champions were forced to play extra hard, including securing two match points in the second set tiebreak before picking up a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over American Brooksby in one of the most exciting matches of the 2022 season.
After Stefan Kozlov and John Isner’s marathon match on the main court, the German and Brooksby entered the court at around 1.30 (22/2) local time. A fairly late start did not stop them from showing impressive performances with world-class games.
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In their previous meeting in 2021 at Indian Wells, the American also cornered the second seed for three sets and he again put the second seed under pressure to win the game without reply for a 5-3 lead and convert his first set point opportunity to take the lead. one set.
The second set of the marathon, which lasted 1 hour 51 minutes, was filled with long rallies with no chance of a break before Alexander Zverev won the set in a tiebreak.
The world number 3 kept the momentum going in the decider and broke Brooksby for the first time of the game to take a 2-1 lead before sealing the win, so he is now 13-3 at the Mexican Open.
The Tokyo Olympic champion’s serve was instrumental in helping him overcome Brooksby after he shot nine aces and won 77 percent of the points from his first serve.
The stoppage time at 4.55am (22/2) local time marked the most recent end to an ATP tournament match, breaking the record for the 2008 Australian Open match between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis which ended at 4.34am local time.
Zverev’s next assignment at the Mexican Open is a second round match against compatriot Peter Gojowczyk after the world number 95 overthrew Brooksby’s compatriot Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4.
In other action, eighth seed Pablo Carreno Busta beat Zverev’s compatriot Oscar Otte 6-2, 6-4 and booked second-round matches against Australian John Millman or American Marcos Giron.
Following in the footsteps of Zverev, the US tennis player, John Isner had to spend up to 3 hours 14 minutes to complete the first round of the Mexican Open.
The 36-year-old Isner saved a match point chance at 2-5 in the third set before beating Carreno Busta’s compatriot Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-7, 7-6.
Thanks to his hard work, Isner has the right to qualify for the second round against sixth seed Cameron Norrie or German tennis player Daniel Altmaier.
