SportsZverev's mishap at Rome's ATP 1000 ignites dramatic doubles defeat

Zverev's mishap at Rome's ATP 1000 ignites dramatic doubles defeat

The ATP 1000 tournament is currently in Rome, drawing almost all the top tennis players to its courts. In a notable event during a doubles match, German player Alexander Zverev accidentally hit his partner, Marcelo Melo, in the head.

In the photo: Felipe Melo, who was hit in the head
In the photo: Felipe Melo, who was hit in the head
Images source: © X

Following the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid, the world's leading tennis players moved from Spain to Italy to compete in the Rome event starting in the second week of May.

The competition is packed with contenders vying for the top spot in both singles and doubles categories. Among them is Alexander Zverev, a German player of Russian descent who ranks fifth in the world's ATP tennis players. In the singles category, he was the third seed and managed to secure a victory over the Australian Aleksandar Vukic, with scores of 6:0, 6:4. Zverev teamed up with Brazilian player Marcelo Melo for the doubles competition, where they won one match.

Unfortunately for the pair, they lost to Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik and America's Ben Shelton by 6:2, 3:6, 7-10 scores. During this match, Zverev accidentally struck Melo in the head, causing a comical incident.

This happened in the fourth game of the second set at a critical juncture when the German-Brazilian team led 6:2, 3:0. Following a lapse from Zverev, their opponents seized an opportunity to break, which they did at the third break point.

This moment marked a turning point in the match. From a 0:3 deficit, Bublik and Shelton went on to win six consecutive games, propelling them to the super tie-break. They ultimately won 10-7, moving on to the quarterfinals.

The peculiar incident was highlighted by the Tennis TV profile, which shares official recordings of tennis matches. While such mishaps are relatively uncommon, they remind us that they are part of the unpredictability and challenge of doubles competition.

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