Alexander Zverev made a strong start and broke Martin Landaluce’s serve early in the match. However, the young Spaniard was unfazed, immediately broke back and matched the top seed from that point onwards. At 5-5, Zverev struck again before comfortably serving out the opening set 7-5.

Landaluce increased the pressure in the second set. Playing aggressive and fearless tennis, he broke for a 2-0 lead and held on to his advantage to take the set 6-3 and force a decider.

Seven more match points in spectacular tie-break

Zverev earned his first two match points with Landaluce serving at 5-6 in the third set. The Spaniard saved both to force a deciding tie-break, which developed into a remarkable battle of nerves.

Landaluce earned his first match point at 6-5, but Zverev saved it on his own serve. The momentum then swung back and forth almost by the minute. At 7-6, Zverev had his third chance to close out the match, but Landaluce responded with a powerful serve.

The Spaniard subsequently earned three more match points at 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9. Zverev held his nerve each time, saving Landaluce’s fourth match point with an ace to make it 10-10.

A Landaluce error handed Zverev his fourth match point at 11-10, but the Spaniard once again produced fearless tennis to level the score. Zverev won the next point to earn his fifth match point at 12-11 – this time on his own serve. Landaluce went for an aggressive return but sent his forehand narrowly wide, allowing Zverev to complete a hard-fought victory after three hours and five minutes and book his place in the round of 16.

Cobolli also in next round

Just short of midnight, Italian Flavio Cobolli also advanced into the next round by beating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6:4, 3:6, 6:3.