After eliminating Zverev from Indian Wells in early March, Griekspoor met the third-ranked German again in the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 tournament in Munich.
An evenly matched first set nearly slipped out of Griekspoor's hands as Zverev earned two break points in the eleventh game, but the Dutchman was able to hold on and see the game through. For the fourth time in Griekspoor's last five matches, a tiebreak was needed to determine a set winner.
Griekspoor took the first hit as Zverev jumped out of the gates with a mini break, but the Dutchman immediately struck back. As the two exchanged two further mini breaks, Griekspoor took advantage of his second set point with a second straight break to win the tiebreak 8-6.
The 37th-ranked Dutchman opened the second set the same way he ended the first and broke Zverev 's first service game. Momentum seemed to be in Griekspoor's favour with a second consecutive win nearing for Griekspoor, but with the chance of going up 30-0 in Zverev's service game, the Dutchman missed an easy return and let the German live.
A vast momentum shift commenced, and Zverev, who applied an aggressive net strategy, took full control of the match as Griekspoor seemed to have the air knocked out of him with another tiebreak coming up.
The flailing Dutchman lost each of his last four services in the tiebreak and lost 7-3 to a rejuvenated Zverev, who forced a deciding third set with a 7-3 tiebreak win.
Deciding set
However, Griekspoor recovered quickly and took the fight to Zverev in the fourth game of the third set. Griekspoor took a commanding 40-0 lead, but could not profit from one of the three break chances he got given. Zverev soon got back to 40-40, after which Griekspoor had one more chance to break Zverev, but it was not to be for the fighting Dutchman, as Zverev prevailed after a marathon game.
The German dialled up the pressure once more in the seventh game and took a break advantage with the finish in sight, but Griekspoor was not done fighting just yet and took a 30-0 lead in the following game. The Dutchman failed to hold onto the lead once more and gave Zverev a quick 40-30 lead and the game.
With Zverev up 40-15 in the ninth game, the German could not capitalise on two match points in Griekspoor's service game, as the Dutchman came back to advantage twice. A double fault handed Zverev his third match point, but Griekspoor fended this one off as well with a narrow drop shot. It gave Griekspoor the lifeline he needed as he beat Zverev to stay in the match.
A fourth match point would not get past Zverev, who let out a primal roar after finally beating Tallon Griekspoor three hours and 16 minutes. Griekspoor got close to beating Zverev for the second time and winning a second match against a top-15 opponent, but got eliminated in the quarter-finals in Munich.
Zverev will meet the winner of the match between Fabian Maroszan and Zizou Berghs in the semi-finals of the BMW Open.