Fast & Fabulous, Zverev Loving Cinci Conditions
Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev extended his winning streak to eight matches and raced into the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Argentine Guido Pella Thursday.
The World No. 5 dropped just four points on his first serve and did not face a break point in the one-hour, 13-minute victory. The German said that he is relishing the fast conditions in Cincinnati.“It’s the fastest court I have played on the whole year. In the first match I was struggling a little with rhythm and timing, but it does suit me with my serve and the power I have, when I decide to use it. Today I felt good out there,” Zverev told Tennis Channel.
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“For me it’s more about how high the ball bounces, not the speed of the court. That’s maybe why I struggle on grass courts maybe than other surfaces. I’m a tall guy and I need the height to hit through the court. That’s why I’ve won three Masters Series on clay and made the semis of the French Open this year. I’ve also had success on hard courts.”
The 2020 US Open finalist, who is seeking his fifth Masters 1000 title, had not won a match in six prior appearances at the event. This year’s Masters 1000 champion in Madrid will next face World No. 11 Casper Ruud.
The Norwegian continues to press his hard-court credentials – and his claim to a maiden berth at the Nitto ATP Finals – by beating Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-3 to reach his second Masters 1000 quarter-final in as many week. Before his run to the last eight in Toronto last week, Ruud had never won a hard-court match at the Masters 1000 level. Rightly known for his clay-court prowess, which reaped three consecutive titles after Wimbledon, Ruud is quietly building his street cred on hard courts. The 22-year-old, who claimed his 100th career match win in the second round this week, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarter-finals of Acapulco before missing the Miami Open through injury.Against Schwartzman, Ruud did not face a break point and dropped just three points on his first serve. Ruud is eight in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, and will pull further away from ninth-placed Hubert Hurkacz, who fell today in the third round to Olympic bronze medallist Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(6), 7-6(3)