KEY POINTS

  • Alexander Zverev won a five-set match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert
  • The U.S. Open finalist is determined to bounce back from his loss last month
  • Zverev said that his training off the court helped him win in five sets  

U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev endured a five-set thriller in his second-round matchup against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the French Open. Despite winning the tightly contested match, Zverev admitted that his opponent was the better player during that game.

With a final score of 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 after three hours and 59 minutes, Zverev said he struggled in the match. He emphasized that while he was in good physical condition, there were other aspects of the game that he had to capitalize on in order to win.

"I think I'm quite fit, to be honest. I feel like physically I'm okay. But sometimes I just feel like I find a way [to win]," Zverev said, ATP Tour reported.

"Today I was not the better player on court," he continued. "I was not hitting my forehand better, not hitting my backhand better, not serving better. I was not doing anything better than he did. But I found a way, which was the most important. Sometimes I manage to do that quite well."

Known as an all-around player, Zverev was still able to play his points well despite Herbert rallying back in every play. One key stat that stood out in the fourth set was how the Frenchman remained aggressive as he scored 11 out of 13 points net points against Zverev. Both players ended up tallying 164 points across the entire match.

"It's something that I worked on not in the matches, but outside the court, in the gym [during] the offseason and the training blocks that I did. It was for these moments," Zverev added.

Zverev is no stranger to five-set matches as just last month, he suffered a come-from-behind loss against Dominic Thiem in the U.S. Open finals. He pointed out that his recent win can be attributed to the hard work he's been putting in during his training sessions.

"You don't need to be lifting 170 kilos on dead lifts or 150 kilos on squats for three-set matches. That's not what you're doing it for. You're doing it for five-set matches, for the big moments like this. I think that the work has been done not on the court, but off the court," Zverev concluded.

The German star will face Italian Marco Cecchinato in the third round of the Roland Garros tournament.

Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his semi-final match against Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain at the 2020 US Open
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his semi-final match against Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain at the 2020 US Open GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / MATTHEW STOCKMAN