You won’t believe Alexander Zverev’s surprising playbook to win Roland Garros

Zverev advances to French Open third round and discloses approach for home player

Alexander Zverev is through to the third round of the French Open following a convincing straight-sets win over Tomas Machac.

The German looked comfortable throughout, finishing with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline on Philippe Chatrier. He had also played on the same court in the first round, where he beat Benjamin Bonzi.

After dispatching home favourite Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round, he followed up with another solid display to advance further in Paris. Next up is another home player – Quentin Halys – as Zverev continues his campaign at Roland Garros.

Zverev has a great chance of a maiden major at the event, and the German has now revealed the tactic he is adopting to try and do exactly that in Paris.

Alexander Zverev discusses strategy change for French Open title bid

After his most recent win, Zverev was told he’s been using the drop shot more often and was then asked if that’s added to his enjoyment on court.

Zverev answered: “Yeah look, obviously something has stopped me at this stage, you know, from winning. I’ve won on every stage except this stage.

“I’ve talked about it so many times this year, at the end of last year we sat down with my team and we said we have to do something different.

“We have to try more things, we have to try to be more aggressive, we have to try to hit the ball harder, we have to maybe come in a bit more, maybe a bit more variety as well.

“And so far it’s working. I’m happy to be through and we’ll see how the next 10 days go. But I’m happy where I am.”

Alexander Zverev shows respect to Tomas Machac after French Open victory

After defeating Machac, Zverev was asked about how well he’s striking the ball at the moment, with his serve and forehand particularly standing out.

When asked why that might be the case, the experienced German responded: “Yeah, I’m trying to improve like everybody.

“But yeah today I thought for one and a half sets it was amazing level from both of us. I thought we played really, really good.

“Also Tomas played really, really good. Unfortunately the injury kind of stopped the match flow a little bit, you know?

“I thought it was a fantastic level, and then of course the level dropped obviously. But I’m happy to finish it in three sets.

While Zverev will undoubtedly be taking the Grand Slam one match at a time, he may already be aware of his path to the title.

If he does go all the way this year, he’ll need to earn it as there are no easy routes to victory with Carlos Alcaraz also still alive in 2024 French Open action.

Read more: