Alexander Zverev needed such a triumph, for the rival's entity and for the difficulties encountered along the way. After seven months of tennis well below expectations, the German surprised Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of Shanghai (6-3, 6-7 [7], 6-3) in a duel plagued with nerves, where the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles ended up insane with the chair judge.
Federer's discussions with Nacho Forcadell focused attention on the resolution of the third set, when the Spanish referee punished him with the loss of a point. "What are we talking about? Butterflies?" The Basel genie snapped angrily. Forcadell, had penalized him for sending a ball to the stands with a slight raquetazo.
"I understand what you say, but if I don't sanction you at that time, I don't know what I could do next," replied the Barcelona, who last May already directed the final of the Count of Godó. With 15-30 and 0-3 adverse in the final sleeve, the penalty opened another two break balls to Zverev. I was not going to take advantage of them, although that already seemed the least, after a clash with so many alternatives.
Five match points
Zverev had previously wasted five match balls in the second set. The first three, at the service, with 6-5 in their favor. Then, two other opportunities were marching down the drain in the tiebreaker, to the delight of the thousands of fans who supported Federer from the stands.
However, the 'number three' of the ranking was not going to take advantage of the favorable trend at the crucial moments. After conquering 12 of the following 14 points, Zverev again took an initiative that would already be insurmountable.
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