Alexander Zverev gets past Blockx in four sets

At Wimbledon, the season's third Grand Slam, second seed Alexander Zverev began the tournament with a tough match. The German beat his first-round opponent, Belgium's Alexander Blockx, in four sets to book his place in the second round. The match on No. 1 Court lasted two hours and 59 minutes.

Taking control at the start of the match, Zverev went ahead by winning the first set 6-4. But his young opponent Blockx showed his resistance in the second set. Winning the passage, which went to a tie-break and saw a long tussle, the Belgian leveled things at 1-1 and reopened the match.

The passage that decided the fate of the match was the run of consecutive tie-breaks. In the third set, another tie-break with key moments was played; this time it was Zverev who used the advantage, taking the set to go 2-1 ahead. In the fourth set the play again went to a tie-break, but in that passage the German gave his opponent no chance. Winning the tie-break clearly, Zverev closed out the set and the match to advance.

With this result, Alexander Zverev continued his path in the tournament after a tough test. In a battle where three sets went to a tie-break, the German brought his experience and his quality at the important moments to the court, sustaining his claim on grass. Zverev's opponent in the next round will be one of the closely followed storylines of the grass-court season.

Match by the numbers: Winners 48-46, unforced errors 27-35, break points won 2/5-1/4, first-serve points won 84%-79%, second-serve points won 52%-52%. Set scores: 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 7-6(0).

Image: Punto de Break