Welcome to Madrid, Alexander Zverev.
The 20-year-old German, making his Mutua Madrid Open debut, delivered a business-like performance on Tuesday, dismissing Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3 on the Manolo Santana Centre Court.
“He was serving at a very high level for the whole match. It was very complicated, especially at the beginning of the match, to return his serves,” Verdasco said. “After that, if I managed to serve well, I didn't manage to cause him any trouble. It was not easy for me to play after he served.”
The win extends Zverev's win streak to five after the #NextGenATP star won the BMW Open by FWU title on Sunday in Munich, his first clay-court crown. The title was Zverev's third in the past nine months and his second of the season. Only five other players have won at least two titles in 2017:
Player Titles
Roger Federer 3
Alexander Zverev 2
Grigor Dimitrov 2
Rafael Nadal 2
Jack Sock 2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2
Zverev's strong start has put him atop the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight 21-and-under players who compete at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Milan from 7-11 November. The eighth player will be chosen by wild card. Zverev has 950 points, 515 points ahead of #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric, who's in second place.
Home hopeful Verdasco, who's from Madrid, was making his 15th consecutive appearance in the Spanish capital but had no answer for Zverev, who hit seven aces and broke the Spanish left-hander four times in the first-round contest.
Zverev clinched the opener by breaking Verdasco in the 12th game, a 13-point battle. The right-handed German broke to go up 3-1 in the second set with a backhand winner up the line, one of his 16 winners.
The Hamburg native is looking to surpass his best showing at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, the quarter-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. He will next meet seventh seed Marin Cilic, who's also coming off a title run.
Cilic beat Canadian Milos Raonic to win his second clay-court crown last week at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Zverev leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but they have never played on clay.
[ALSO LIKE]
Coric made the most of his lucky loser status in working his way past Alexander Zverev's older brother Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6(5) in 89 minutes. The 20-year-old Coric replaced Richard Gasquet, who withdrew due to a back injury, in the main draw. Last month, Coric captured his first ATP World Tour title at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech (d. Kohlschreiber).
He will next challenge qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who struck 22 aces and lost just 11 of his first service points in a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3 win over fellow Frenchman and No. 13 seed Lucas Pouille. At one point Herbert led by a set and 4-2 during the encounter that lasted two hours and nine minutes.
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem accounted for another player in contention for a spot at the 21-and-under event in Milan, lucky loser Jared Donaldson, 6-3, 6-4 in 75 minutes. Thiem, now with a 23-10 match record on the year, awaits the winner of No. 12 seed Grigor Dimitrov and Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
Kyrgios/Sock Oust Fifth Seeds
Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock joined forces to beat fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-4. Klaasen and Ram have picked up titles this year at the Delray Beach Open and the BNP Paribas Open. Elsewhere, Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor accounted for last month’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champions Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2 in 54 minutes.