Big Upsets of '18, No. 4: Zverev's Slam progress takes a hit
Fresh off his first major quarterfinal, the German falls early at
Enjoy a look back at the biggest upsets of the season, starting at No. 10 and counting all the way down to the top stunner of the year.
Over the course of the past two years, Alexander Zverev has been one of the most consistent players on the men’s tour on a week-to-week basis.
The only place he’d stumbled was at the game’s defining tournaments, the Grand Slams.
At this year’s French Open, the young German finally made a breakthrough as he advanced to the quarterfinals of a major for the first time—and doing so in emphatic fashion, with come-from-behind five-set wins in three of his first four matches.
It was expected that the run could continue at Wimbledon as the grass courts would suit his powerful game. He advanced to the third round to face one of the more enigmatic players in men’s tennis.
Ernests Gulbis, a former member of the top 10, had struggled with motivation and injury the past few years, was forced to qualify for the main draw. With three matches in the preliminary rounds under his belt, plus two-five set wins at the All England Club, the Latvian was battle-tested. He took the first set in a tiebreak, then dropped the next two.
Gulbis fought back to take the fourth 6-3 to level the affair, and then Zverev—coming off a five-setter of his own in the second round—faded, losing the decider 6-0.
The win put Gulbis through to the round of 16 at a major for the first time in two years and would eventually propel him back into the top 100 by year’s end.
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