INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Tallon Griekspoor upset No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in a marathon second-round clash Friday at Indian Wells.
Griekspoor collapsed on the court after converting his sixth match point to end an absorbing 3-hour, 7-minute affair under sunny skies on Stadium One court.
It was Griekspoor’s first win over a top-five opponent in 19 attempts.
“Finally,” Griekspoor wrote with a smiley face on the TV camera lens after the hard-fought victory.
Zverev served for the match in the second set but didn’t get it over the line, and Griekspoor won the second-set tiebreaker to force a decider.
Griekspoor failed to convert five match points while serving up 6-5 in the third, but regrouped to win the deciding tiebreak.
“I’m incredibly proud. It was such a mental battle to beat him,” Griekspoor said. “I beat him once but then lost the next six times, so it was such a mental thing. Happy to finally get it out of the way.”
Griekspoor will face big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the third round.
Zverev has struggled with his form since losing to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final in January.
“I’m just not playing good tennis at the moment. It’s as simple as that,” he told reporters. “I’m not playing a level that I want to play, definitely not playing anywhere near what I played in Australia.
“I’m just disappointed with my game.”
The world No. 2 said he needs to regroup.
“Right now, it’s not clicking,” Zverev said. “I have to find a way to make that happen.”
In other men’s results Friday, Tommy Paul, the No. 10 seed, eased past fellow American Tristan Boyer 6-3, 6-1 in front of packed stands on court three.
Paul, who reached the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open last year, was among the players who fell ill because of a stomach bug last month at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, but said he has fully recovered.
Reuters contributed to this report.
