French Open 2024: Zverev survives Griekspoor marathon to reach fourth round

World number four Alexander Zverev survived a marathon match to beat Tallon Griekspoor 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) in the French Open third round on Saturday and keep alive his hopes of a first Grand Slam title.

Zverev, a semi-finalist for the last three years, had not dropped a set in his opening two matches, including a first-round win over Rafael Nadal, but he was on the back foot when the Dutch 26th seed won the opening set.

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The German finally broke serve when leading 5-4 in the second set to level the match and made lighter work of the third set, and when Griekspoor took a medical timeout, it appeared that Zverev would have little trouble closing out victory.

However, the Dutch 27-year-old forced a deciding set and held a 4-1 advantage after two breaks of serve before Zverev roared back to win four consecutive games.

Griekspoor kept his nerve to force a tiebreak, but after an enthralling match lasting over four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier, Zverev fired down an ace to clinch the tiebreak.