Zverev Survives Four Match Points in Vienna Marathon Against Wild Card Landaluce

Alexander Zverev survived a major scare in Vienna on Tuesday, saving four match points to edge wild card Martin Landaluce in a first-round marathon at the ATP 500 event. The top seed eventually prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(11) after three hours and five minutes of tense, high-quality tennis against the world No. 67. Zverev took a tight opening set before Landaluce, roared on by the home crowd, levelled the match by claiming the second set 6-3. The decider went all the way to a final-set tiebreak, where the young Spaniard carved out four chances to close out the biggest win of his career. Each time, Zverev found a way through, holding his nerve when it mattered most to snatch the breaker 13-11 and keep his Vienna campaign alive. It was a familiar story across both ATP 500 events this week, with top seeds forced to dig deep in their openers. At the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Ben Shelton needed three tiebreaks and 44 aces to get past lucky loser Aleksandar Kovacevic without either man dropping serve. For Zverev, the escape keeps his late-season ambitions intact, but the manner of the win will concern his camp: against higher-ranked opposition later in the week, four match points down is a position he may not escape twice.