Day 4 under the lights: Zverev on clay

Now that his sore back is feeling better (he had treatment for the problem just before he came to Paris), the tall man from Hamburg – he stands 6ft 6ins or 1.98m – is easing into his 11th Roland-Garros campaign. His opening match against Benjamin Bonzi was, the No.2 seed thought, as good as it gets.

“I think it was a good start,” Zverev said. “It's sometimes as simple as that. I won in three sets. It was an opening match against an opponent who can make it difficult against good players. He's shown that in the past, and I handled it well.”

Then again, he has seen it all before. He has been chasing a first Grand Slam title since 2015 and has stood within touching distance of the trophy in three finals. He knows what it takes to get to the business end of a major championship – and the first week is all about getting the job done with minimal fuss.

With his height and power, Zverev seems to be genetically designed for the faster courts yet it is here where he has had his most consistent results. With the wingspan of a jet airliner, it is almost impossible to keep the ball out of his hitting zone while his movement is remarkable. Daniil Medvedev is the same height but looks to be all arms and legs as he windmills around the court. Zverev purrs along like a well-oiled machine. 

“Europeans are probably better on clay than Americans or Australians, because that's what we grew up on,” he explained. “It's the more natural move for us. That's how we move on a tennis court. It's just I see a ball, I have to get there, I slide to it.”

He has faced Tomas Machac only once before but it was on these courts. They played in the Paris Olympics two years ago and Zverev won in straight sets. The Czech started the year by winning the Adelaide title but his clay court preparations stuttered to a halt when he pulled out before his second-round match due to illness.