LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) – Alexander Zverev worked a longer shift than he would have hoped for in fierce heat as he returned to Centre Court on Tuesday to complete his fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
The German second seed had gone to bed the previous evening tantalisingly close to breaking new ground at Wimbledon, leading by two sets and 3-3 in the third when Wimbledon’s strict 11 p.m. curfew halted his progress.
On the resumption, a listless-looking Zverev lost 12 of the first 13 points to drop the third set but managed to re-focus to win 6-4 7-5 3-6 7-6(6).
Zverev double-faulted on a second match point in the tiebreaker but was spared further overtime as 13th seed Lehecka netted a backhand.
His attempt to add the Wimbledon crown to his maiden Grand Slam title at last month’s French Open will continue with a heavy-metal last-eight clash with American Taylor Fritz.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Alison Williams)
