US Open 2019: Inconsistent Alexander Zverev serves up glut of double faults in four-set humbling against Diego Schwartzman

What does your reaction to making 17 double faults in a match say about your state of being? If you brush it off as “the usual,” you know you’re in the deep end of the pool. “The usual” was what Alexander Zverev replied when asked about his serving problems during his four-set loss to Diego Schwartzman in the US Open fourth round. Zverev had to hit 47 second serves in the match, and he missed 17 of them — that’s more than one in every three tries. And as per Zverev, it wasn’t even something new; the German has made it a habit of racking up double faults in double figures. What is ailing Zverev’s second serve, which was once considered one of his biggest strengths? The man himself doesn’t believe the problem is technical. “My second serve needs to be worked on, and I’ll deal with it,” he said in his press conference. But when asked whether he needed to make any technical change to it, he replied “No” and immediately looked away. [caption id=“attachment_7274921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Alexander Zverev committed 17 double faults in his fourth-round loss. AFP[/caption] That must mean it is squarely a confidence-related issue, as the journalist said weakly in reply to his own question after hearing Zverev’s brusque answer. But what will help Zverev get more confidence? As his match against Schwartzman showed, winning points or games certainly don’t. In what has become a weird pattern for Zverev, he plays in diametrically opposite fashion when he is trailing and leading. When he is behind — either by a break, or just on the scoreboard — he plays from close to the baseline and hits his forehand with intent. He also comes forward a lot more frequently, finishing points with his vastly improved net game. But the moment he wins a bunch of points and establishes a lead, all of that vanishes and he becomes a passive counterpuncher. After exchanging breaks with Schwartzman at the start of the match, Zverev settled into an aggressive rhythm, setting up points with his serve and dictating a majority of the rallies. It helped that Schwartzman was totally off his game. The Argentine usually takes a lot of risks by planting himself at the baseline and hitting his groundstrokes into the corners, but in that first set very few of those risks paid off. The errors continued from Schwartzman well into the second set, and at 2-2, Zverev had four break points. But the 22-year-old’s arm seemed to freeze at every single opportunity to take an authoritative lead in the match. On the first three of those break points he couldn’t even get the return back in play. And it wasn’t like he was taking big cuts at the ball; it was just a case of his racquet-head speed inexplicably reducing. Schwartzman grew in confidence from that hold, and very soon his errors evaporated. He broke Zverev immediately after that, and didn’t lose another game in the set. With the match back on equal terms, Zverev miraculously regained his aggression from the first set. He generated a bunch of break points at both 1-1 and 2-2 by powering his groundstrokes with depth and coming forward at the slightest opportunity. At 2-2 he actually converted one of the break points, and at that stage it seemed like he had seen off the danger. But right on cue, his passive play came back with a vengeance. Schwartzman broke in the very next game, and never trailed in the match after that. A brilliant backhand pass with Zverev serving at 4-5 sealed the set, and when the Argentine ran up a 4-0 lead in the fourth it was all but over. Zverev has turned into something of a marathon man in recent times, showing remarkable gumption to fight through five-setters. But he has rarely had to play someone of Schwartzman’s quality in that run of close finishes. Not everyone can make you pay for a loopy forehand hanging in the middle of the court as severely as Schwartzman can, and Zverev found that out the hard way. The double faults, of course, reached comical proportions towards the home stretch. At one point Zverev hit a 66 mph second serve, and still could only find the bottom of the net with it. The German leads the list of double-fault makers at the Slams this year with 131 (the second-placed Benoit Paire is some way behind at 105), despite playing just 14 matches at the Majors. That’s a rate of over nine double faults per match. If this is purely a confidence issue, then Zverev must have the confidence of a rabbit right now. That said, in a sign of just how bad things had got for him, Zverev can actually consider this US Open as an encouraging tournament overall. While his serving woes remained as dire as ever, he was more aggressive with his shot-making in general. He went after his forehand in patches (specifically, when he was behind or on equal terms), and also showed a greater willingness to come forward. The next logical step should be to maintain his positive intent throughout a match, and to cut down on the routine mistakes. Zverev made 65 unforced errors against Schwartzman despite being only intermittently proactive with his groundstrokes; that just won’t cut it at the highest level. Schwartzman, meanwhile, is back at the highest level, notching up his second US Open quarter-final (and third across all Slams). The 5'7" pocket rocket has made it a habit of cutting bigger players down to size with his unique blend of sweet timing and incredible foot speed. The way he controlled the second half of the match against Zverev on both offence and defence was impressive by any standard. The next opponent that Schwartzman faces is Rafael Nadal. “Rafa is my friend,” Schwartzman said when asked about the upcoming match. “It’s always great to play against him in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.” Anyone who’s followed Schwartzman on Instagram, and who’s watched his previous matches against Nadal, will readily agree with both those statements. Schwartzman has troubled Nadal in the past, even on clay. He was the only player in the draw to take a set off the Spaniard at the 2018 French Open, and he also turned their fourth-round match at the 2018 Australian Open into a ferocious battle. Will he make as much of an impact in New York? He will likely have to play even better than he did on Monday for that, because Nadal is not going to gift him a whole bunch of double faults the way Zverev did. Certainly not 17 of them.