Alexander Zverev talks about his victory against Thomas Fabbiano on Tuesday at the Australian Open. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Watch more video and live matches at www.ausopen.com.
Twice Thomas Fabbiano served to take a set from fourth seed Alexander Zverev during their first-round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday. But both times Zverev raised his level and broke the Italian en route to his first win of the 2018 ATP World Tour season, a 6-1, 7-6(5), 7-5 victory on Rod Laver Arena. “I think I picked up my energy a little bit and was a little more intense on my returns,” Zverev said on court after the match. [ALSO LIKE] The 20-year-old rolled behind 47 winners, including 17 aces, and broke Fabbiano five times in the two-hour and 22-minute contest. It's the second consecutive year the 6'6” right-hander has advanced to the second round in Australia....
For most players, five singles titles, two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies and a career-high ATP Ranking of No.3 — all by the age of 20 — would be tough to top. As Alexander Zverev proved over the course of 2017, he isn't most players — and he also isn't easily satisfied. "I think improving on the Grand Slam performances is one thing [to work on]," Zverev said. "The furthest I got was to the fourth round of Wimbledon. A lot of times it wasn't because I played badly, but because I played very good opponents; I lost to [Rafael] Nadal. I lost to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon. Both times in five sets. That's nothing to worry about too...
The 2016 battle for No. 1 finished in a sprint, with Andy Murray winning 24 consecutive matches and five consecutive titles to edge Novak Djokovic. The 2017 season also featured a two-man race, as Rafael Nadal beat out Roger Federer to finish atop the Emirates ATP Rankings for the fourth time, and, at 31, become the oldest year-end No. 1. But the 2018 battle for the top spot hardly looks as if it will be a mano-a-mano contest. Rather, next year's fight for No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings looks as wide open as any in recent memory. The seven men who could finish on top: 1) No. 1 Rafael Nadal Nadal could very well back his 2017 and...
Go behind the scenes with Alexander and Mischa Zverev as they tackle strength training in Monte-Carlo in preparation for the 2018 season on the ATP World Tour.
