In-Form Zverev Makes Good Start In Paris
One year after reaching the final of the Rolex Paris Masters, Alexander Zverev appears poised to go one step further at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event.
The German got off to a good start at Paris-Bercy on Wednesday when he defeated Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 7-6(5) in one hour and 40 minutes to reach the third round. The fourth seed will next face 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who eliminated 2018 champion Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Zverev is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having won 26 of his past 28 matches dating back to the start of the Tokyo Olympics, where he claimed the singles gold medal. Nineteen of those 26 victories have come in straight sets.
[FOLLOW 1000]
It was not a stress-free win for Zverev against Lajovic, though. The Serbian battled hard to stay in contact in the second set, and came within two points of sending the match to the decider. But loose errors that landed beyond the baseline late in the tie-break cost the World No. 34, who was pursuing his first ATP Head2Head win against the five-time ATP Masters 1000 champion.
Zverev will try to play even better against Dimitrov, whom he has not faced since the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, when the German had just turned 19. The fourth seed has triumphed in two of their three previous meetings.
Did You Know?
Zverev is second on the ATP Tour this season with 53 tour-level wins (53-13). He only trails Stefanos Tsitsipas (55-18), who retired during his second-round match in Paris on Wednesday due to injury.