set point there was on the Zverev serve – and shortly afterwards, the Spaniard is serving at 8-7...Zverev has made hard work of this first set, more or less winning it by securing a double-break, prior to handing it back.
Then he takes a 5-2 lead in the breaker, finds himself pegged back to 5-4 ... and balloons a forehand! Zapata Miralles is getting a lot of balls into court, but even so, this should be in the books. Meantime, Auger-Aliassime is also returning a break, his lead now cut to 5-2. P-r-e-s-s-u-r-e!Zverev is experiencing some wild fluctuations here, and he just about serves out for a first-set breaker.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, has just broken Nadal again for 5-1 – Uncle Toni, we learn has helped him stay in rallies longer so he can turn up the power more often and he’s looking very well-organised these days.Brilliant from Nadal, getting to 0-30 then flicking a terrific lob after chasing a decent drop that sets up three break points.
Auger-Aliassime, though, stays calm to save them all and close out for 4-1, while Zverev clumps a forehand wide and he’s gone to pieces here. Zverev 5-5 Zapata MiarallesZapata Miralles has retrieved one of the two breaks Zverev took off him, to trail 3-4 in set one, while Auger-Alissime’s backhand stands up well in a rally that gets him 30-40 and his first break point of the match. Nadal, though, thunders down a service winner ... but it doesn’t matter because Auger-Aliassime takes two rallies in a row for 3-1! Since 2015, Nadal has lost 70 service games at Roland Garros, and on 33 of those occasions, he’s broken back immediately. That is absurd.The first is easily rescued, Nadal going long with a backhand return, then two phat backhands earn deuce.