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Alexander Zverev is in the second round in Paris

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IMAGO/Schreyer

Alexander Zverev celebrated a successful return at the French Open after the serious ankle injury last year. The Olympic tennis champion initially had some trouble on Tuesday in the 7: 6 (8: 6), 7: 6 (7: 0), 6: 1 against Lloyd Harris, but in the end reached the second round confidently after injury problems of the South African. Zverev meets the Slovak Alex Molcan and has to improve significantly despite his renewed role as favorite.

361 days ago, the 26-year-old twisted his ankle in the semifinals against Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the clay court classic in Paris and was out for more than half a year with multiple torn ligaments. Since his comeback at the end of last year, Zverev has been looking for his old form.

Initially, the appearance on the Simonne-Mathieu court in the far west of the Stade Roland Garros was marked by some uncertainties. Zverev served with a strong quota, but allowed himself plenty of unnecessary mistakes, especially in long rallies. In the second game, he slipped slightly when the opponent stopped, had to support himself with his hand on the red ashes.

Zverev wants to improve

With the score at 5: 5, Zverev fended off two breakballs. A short time later, he used the third set point after 68 minutes due to a forehand error by the opponent.

"It's nice to be back. Since last year, I've marked this day in bold on my calendar," said Zverev. He wasn't satisfied, "but happy to have won in three sets. I know I have to play better."

Zverev is cared for in Paris by father Alexander Zverev senior. Zverev had separated from his coach Sergi Bruguera in the run-up to the French Open. As a reason, he cited "differences of opinion" on the future direction.

Medvedev fails surprisingly

Daniil Medvedev's title hopes, on the other hand, were dashed in the first round. The former world number one from Russia had to admit defeat to Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild 6: 7 (5: 7), 7: 6 (8: 6), 6: 2, 3: 6, 4: 6. After his first clay court title at the Masters in Rome, Medvedev traveled to Paris as a co-favorite.

Medvedev had already celebrated five tournament victories this season and fought his way up to second place in the world rankings. Seyboth Wild (23), number 172 in the world and in the main draw in Paris for the first time, was already in good form on the Challenger Tour and clearly defeated Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen) in qualifying for Roland Garros.

jk/dpa