ATP Masters Cincinnati: Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas sovereign in round three
Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrated sovereign second-round victories at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Jannik Sinner, however, fails on Thursday night because of John Isner.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Aug 19, 2021, 06:00 am
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has reported back with a sovereign victory on the ATP tour. At the Masters in Cincinnati, the Hamburger won his opening match against South African Lloyd Harris 7: 6 (3), 6: 2 and will now face Argentine Guido Pella in the round of 16. In the first round, Zverev had a bye.
At the first appearance since winning the gold medal at the Olympic tournament in Tokyo, Zverev hardly needed any start-up time. In the duel with Harris, who was also a strong serve, he prevailed in the first set in the tie-break, in the second half he got two breaks early - the 24-year-old did not give up this advantage until the match point and thus celebrated his first ever win in Cincinnati.
Zverev's first win in Cincinnati
"I'm glad that after seven years I finally won my first match here," said Zverev at Sky: "The court is very fast, you don't get much rhythm. But you have to adapt to the different conditions."
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who got the upper hand in two sets against the American talent Sebastian Korda, also got off to a very successful start in the ATP Masters 1000 event. Especially in the first set, the 21-year-old was able to make the game extremely open, Tsitsipas finally won the first round 7: 6 (5). In the second sentence, the superiority of the third in the world rankings could be seen more clearly: With 7: 6 (5) and 6: 3, the 23-year-old bought his third round ticket.
Sinner fails because of Isner
Meanwhile, the winner of Washington's ATP 500 event, Jannik Sinner, was eliminated. The Italian won set one 7: 5 against serving giant John Isner, but had to give up the match after losing the tie-break in round two. John Isner now meets the eccentric Benoit Paire, who surprisingly took Denis Shapovalov out of the tournament.
Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman also bought their tickets for the round of 16 on Thursday night. The Norwegian needed a show of strength against service giant Reilly Opelka and won the tie-break of the third set. Schwartzman also had to go over three sets against Francis Tiafoe, but the Argentine finally got the upper hand with 6: 4 in the decisive set. The two clay court specialists will meet in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Gael Monfils also celebrated his 500th success on the ATP tour with a success over Alex de Minaur. Only five active players have won more matches on the tour. Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz bought their tickets for the round of 16 in the day session on Wednesday.