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World no. 12 Alexander Zverev played his first official match since June at the United Cup in Sydney. Alexander experienced a severe ankle injury in the Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal, missing the second part of the year and building his way back.
The German will have to play much better to return to the top-10. He kicked off the season with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to world no. 81 Jiri Lehecka in an hour and 32 minutes. The young Czech produced clean hitting and determined tennis.
He defended seven out of eight break chances and delivered four breaks from eight opportunities to control the pace and bring a notable win for his country against Germany. As usual, Zverev suffered a lot behind the second serve, especially after eight double faults.
He failed to impose his strokes in the decisive moments and faded from the court in the second set to propel the rival through. Jiri closed the encounter's first game with a service winner, and Alexander leveled the score at 1-1 with a hold at 15.
Alexander Zverev fell to Jiri Lehecka in Sydney.
Zverev earned two break points in the third game and missed them. Lehecka played bold tennis and clinched the game with a backhand crosscourt winner to avoid an early setback.
Alexander grabbed the fourth game with a service winner, and Jiri responded with a hold at love a few minutes later. The German sprayed a volley error in the sixth game and experienced two break points. Lehecka wasted his opportunities, and Zverev held with a service winner for 3-3.
Jiri passed Alexander with a forehand down the line winner in game nine and closed it with a booming serve to remain on the positive side. Zverev played a careless forehand at 40-30 in game ten and hit a double fault for a set point.
The Czech clinched an extended rally and seized his opportunity with a volley lob winner that sent him 6-4 in front and gave him a boost. Zverev squandered four break chances at the start of the second set and became even more frustrated with his game.
Lehecka closed the game with a great serve & volley combo and moved 2-1 up with a hold at love in game three. Alexander sprayed a backhand error in the fourth game to lose serve and push the rival closer to the finish line.
The Czech dropped a 33-stroke exchange in the next one and got broken to keep the German on the positive side. Not building on that, Zverev experienced another break in game six following Jiri's smash winner. The Czech cemented the lead with a hold at love after a service winner in game seven, and the German served to stay in the match in the next one.
Zverev lost the ground and suffered the third straight break of serve in game eight to propel the rival over the finish line and his second top-20 triumph.