Zverev advances to Mexican Open round of 16

Acapulco (Mexico) Feb 28 (IANS) Second-seeded German Alexander Zverev defeated American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 7-5 to advance to the round of 16 of the Mexican Open a hard court event.

Zverev who is the tournament favourite after Spanish top seed and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal withdrew due to a lingering hip injury earned an early break in Tuesday night s match to go up 3-1 and held serve the rest of the way to wrap up the first set reports Efe.

In the second set McDonald who was a last-minute replacement for American Steve Johnson managed to stay on serve until 5-5 but Zverev reeled off eight straight points to take the match in an hour and 20 minutes.

Zverev s serve was the key to his victory as he won nearly 80 percent of his first-serve points and 70 percent of his second-serve points and saved the lone break point he faced.

Next up for the 20-year-old Zverev in Wednesday s round of 16 will be Germany s Peter Gojowczyk who cruised past Mexican wild card Lucas Gomez 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday.

In other Acapulco action two of tennis other promising young stars 24-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem and 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov set up a much-anticipated round-of-16 clash with victories on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Thiem clawed out a 6-3 5-7 7-5 victory over Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom while Shapovalov rallied for a 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 win over Japan s Kei Nishikori a former top-five player who is making his way back after suffering a season-ending wrist injury in 2017.

In women s singles action on Tuesday American top seed Sloane Stephens the reigning US Open champion easily defeated France s Pauline Parmentier 6-4 6-0.

--IANS
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