Kecmanovic shocks Zverev in Acapulco: 'I didn't have any pressure'
Miomir Kecmanovic earned the first Top 5 win of his career Wednesday when he upset World No. 4 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
The 26-year-old entered the match 0-11 against Top 5 players in the PIF ATP Rankings, yet found some of his best tennis against the 2021 champion to reach the quarter-finals.
“It feels amazing, especially because it’s been a rough couple of years,” said Kecmanovic, the No. 84 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “So I’m happy that some things are going my way finally.”
Kecmanovic struck his backhand confidently and took advantage of Zverev’s deep return positioning, opening the court and holding his ground against the German’s usually reliable two-handed backhand. Zverev finished with 17 backhand unforced errors, compared to Kecmanovic’s six.
“I guess I was more aggressive when it mattered. I served a lot better than my usual standards, so I’m happy that things went well today,” Kecmanovic said. “Obviously he’s the big favourite, so I didn’t have any pressure there, but you still have to play well when it matters, close out the match and thankfully it went my way.”
The Serbian improved to 2-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the 24-time tour-level titlist. Into the last eight at the hard-court ATP 500, Kecmanovic will face French lefty Terence Atmane for the first time. Atmane overcame wild card Rafael Jodar 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
In other action, fifth seed Flavio Cobolli downed Dalibor Svrcina 6-4, 6-4. Cobolli won 86 per cent (37/43) of his first-serve points and saved all six break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.