Alexander Zverev inched closer to clinching his debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals in London on Tuesday. The second seed started his China Open with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory against 22-year-old Kyle Edmund of Great Britain in a match that finished after midnight local time. The 20-year-old Zverev broke in the third and ninth games of the first set. [ALSO LIKE] Edmund raised his level in the second set and had a set point on his racquet at 5-4 after breaking Zverev. But the German broke back and sprinted through the tie-break, winning the final four points for the straight-sets win. Zverev improves to 2-0 against Edmund in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 6'6” German is in third...
For Steve Darcis, the future is now. The Belgian isn't dwelling on a mid-season slump, during which he won just two of nine matches from Roland Garros through Wimbledon. He's also not thinking about what could have been due to lost time. On Monday, Darcis cruised past Emirates ATP Rankings No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the China Open, continuing his reversal of fortune. Last week, Darcis defeated Ze Zhang before falling to World No. 4 Zverev, 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in a tightly contested second-round match at the Shenzhen Open.That performance followed his Davis Cup heroics, where he pushed Nick Kyrgios to five sets before winning the decisive rubber against Jordan Thompson to lead...
It’s a warm welcome in Beijing for the youngest player in the Top 5 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Alexander Zverev, who has risen from No. 24 to No. 4 in 2017, arrives in China’s capital with all the momentum of a standout second season on the ATP World Tour. 2017 season has seen the 6'6" German win five titles – the same amount as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – including two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns in Rome (d. Novak Djokovic) and Montreal (d. Federer). But as the season comes to an intense finish and the Emirates ATP Race To London heats up, Zverev looks to keep building upon the consistency that he established throughout the season,...
Alexander Zverev battled through a testing opening match at the Shenzhen Open on Thursday evening, edging Steve Darcis 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in two hours and 48 minutes. "I'm just happy to go through. I was down a break in both sets and it's good to win those matches," said the German, who is closing in on a spot at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. Looking to defeat Zverev for the second time this year, Darcis twice put himself in a strong position to win the match. After securing the first set with a break in the third game, the Belgian served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but could not get to match point as Zverev fought...