After falling in the second round on his past two appearances at the US Open, Alexander Zverev reached the third round in New York for the first time, beating lucky loser Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday.
The World No. 4 needed one hour and 48 minutes to clinch his 45th tour-level win of the season, hitting 43 winners and converting each of his five break chances to advance. Zverev ties Mahut at 1-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, having lost their only previous encounter at the 2017 Open 13 Provence. The Mutua Madrid Open champion leads the ATP World Tour in match wins this season (45-13).
The nine-time tour-level titlist, competing under new coach Ivan Lendl for the first time this week, awaits Matthew Ebden of Australia or countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Zverev is yet to meet Ebden at tour-level, but is tied at 2-2 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Kohlschreiber. In their only previous encounter outside of their home country, Kohlschreiber defeated Zverev in five sets to reach the US Open second round in 2015.
After a tricky opening service game, Zverev excelled behind his delivery to take a one-set lead. The German dropped only two points in his following four service games, wrapping up the set with his fourth ace of the match.
The German quickly solidified his advantage in the opening game of the second set, breaking Mahut to 15 as the Frenchman misfired on his backhand wing. Return points were few and far between for the Frenchman, until Zverev offered up three break-point chances in the eighth game. Two double faults contributed to Zverev's problems, before Mahut broke with flair in a tight forecourt exchange.
Zverev wasted no time regaining his lead however, breaking to love in the next game with consistent aggression before comfortably serving out the set after 72 minutes. From that point, Zverev charged to the finish line.
The German earned two further service breaks in the third set, with moments of exquisite touch found between crushed groundstroke winners, before landing back-to-back aces to finally move past the second-round stage.
Lucky loser Mahut was aiming to reach the third round in New York for the third consecutive year. The Frenchman, who lost to Tommy Robredo in qualifying, defeated Next Gen ATP Finals contender Corentin Moutet to record his eighth US Open match win on Tuesday.
Did You Know?
Earlier this year, Zverev won three consecutive five-set matches at Roland Garros to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final and become the youngest quarter-finalist in Paris since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2NBV4PH
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