Alexander Zverev faced four match points in a deciding-set tiebreak on Tuesday night at the Wiener Stadthalle, saved the last of them with an ace, and beat 20-year-old Spanish wild card Martin Landaluce 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (11) after three hours and five minutes in the first round of the Erste Bank Open.
The tiebreak alone ran past 20 minutes and finished 13-11. Landaluce held match point at 6-5, 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9. Zverev saved the first on his own serve and the fourth with an ace for 10-10. In between he had chances of his own: at 7-6, when Landaluce served his way out of trouble, and at 11-10, when the Spaniard attacked again to draw level. Zverev’s fifth match point came at 12-11, on his own serve, and Landaluce’s attacking forehand return went narrowly wide. The two embraced at the net.
Landaluce had already escaped once. Serving at 5-6 in the third set, he saved two match points to force the tiebreak. The first set had gone with serve after an early exchange of breaks until Zverev broke again at 5-5 and served it out. Landaluce broke for 2-0 at the start of the second, held that lead and levelled the match after about an hour and a half, with Zverev visibly unhappy with his own game.
“[I was pushed] to the absolute limit,” Zverev said. “Martin played a helluva match. The first forehand after the serve was unbelievable, I barely touched a ball. So, definitely credit to him, he played an amazing match. “I know I have to improve, for sure. It was not perfect from me, but he pushed me today, absolutely.”
Landaluce. The Spaniard had said on the eve of the match that his game was about “trying to be really aggressive and go for the winners,” and that he knew Zverev’s tennis from practising with him at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca in 2025. He reached Masters 1000 quarterfinals in Miami and Rome this year and a career-high No. 55 in June.
Tuesday was his fourth match against a Top 10 opponent, after losses to Lorenzo Musetti in Barcelona, Daniil Medvedev in Rome and Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart, and his sixth tour-level match indoors. He is still looking for a first win in both. He is third in the race to the Next Gen ATP Finals in Reggio Calabria.
What it means. Zverev is one win from becoming world No. 1 for the first time. If he reaches the quarterfinals in Vienna, he is guaranteed to replace Jannik Sinner at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings on 2 November. Sinner has not played since winning Wimbledon and ended his season with a right knee injury. Zverev has already clinched year-end No. 1, so Vienna decides only the date.
The 29-year-old, champion at Roland Garros and the US Open this year, would be the second German man to hold the top spot after Boris Becker in 1991, the 30th member of the ATP No. 1 club and the first new one since Sinner in June 2024. Tuesday’s win took him to 63-16 for the season. How the year-end race was settled is in the year-end No. 1 explainer.
Alcaraz. Earlier on Centre Court, second seed Carlos Alcaraz beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two hours and four minutes, his first match in Vienna since 2021. He let three match points go on Khachanov’s serve at 5-4 in the second set, then dropped his own serve, broke straight back at 5-6 and came from 1-3 down in the tiebreak.
“I would say I played too fast, overplayed a couple of the match points, and then I made a few mistakes,” Alcaraz said. He is now 7-0 against Khachanov and 22-0 at ATP 500 level since losing the 2025 Barcelona final to Holger Rune. He plays Nikoloz Basilashvili or home wild card Jurij Rodionov next.
What’s next. Zverev meets Tallon Griekspoor or world No. 17 Brandon Nakashima, who play on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. on the #glaubandich Court in the Marx Halle. Griekspoor arrives as the Brussels champion and beat Zverev in Montreal in August, one of his three wins in their 12 meetings.
Zverev is back on court on Wednesday only in doubles, partnering Marcelo Melo against fourth seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The draw as it stood before play is in our Vienna draw preview, and the Erste Bank Open guide has the venue, format and past champions. The final is on Sunday, 1 November, and the Rolex Paris Masters starts the next day.
