Zverev Upsets Cilic, Wawrinka Falls To Paire
Zverev Upsets Cilic, Wawrinka Falls To Paire
Dimitrov, Coric advance on Wednesday
Alexander Zverev scored his first win on clay over a Top 10 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings, reaching the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday in a late-night thriller over seventh seed Marin Cilic 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4.
The #NextGenATP German boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Cilic to 3-1 and has won their past three matches.
He’ll now take on 11th seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the last eight after the Czech player defeated Robin Haase 7-6(5), 6-3. Zverev trails his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Berydch 1-4, but won their most recent meeting this past September in St. Petersburg.
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Cilic recovered from being a break down at 3-4 in the opening set and held the lead throughout the tie-break to take the early advantage. Zverev was forced to save six break points in his first two service games of the second set, but the momentum swung in his favour after clearing that hurdle. He only needed a single break of serve in each set to claim victory in two hours and 34 minutes.
Zverev has been a hot streak after prevailing on home soil last week in Munich to win his fourth ATP World Tour title and second of the season. He currently sits at No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, one spot off his career-high standing, but could surpass that with another big run this week.
Benoit Paire recorded the first major upset of the tournament on Court Manolo Santana, hanging tough to defeat third seed Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
The Frenchman improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Wawrinka to 3-7 and picks up his first win on clay against the former Roland Garros champion.
Next up for Paire is Pablo Cuevas, who won a marathon 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 match against Nicolas Mahut. The World No. 52 in the Emirates ATP Rankings leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Cuevas 3-0, including a win this March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami.
Wawrinka was left to rue a series of missed opportunities in the first set. The Swiss star was up 4-2, 40/0, but let Paire back in with several errors and the Frenchman earned the break back with a volley winner. A forehand sent well long by Wawrinka gave Paire a 6-5 lead and the unseeded player comfortably wrapped up the set on serve in the next game.
A 15-minute rain delay pulled both men off the court at 2-2 in the second set. When they returned, it was Paire who stumbled out of the gate by double faulting to give Wawrinka a 3-2 lead. The third seed missed a chance to serve out the set at 5-3, but ripped a forehand return winner on set point in the next game to force a decider.
Wawrinka had momentum in his favour, but played a loose opening game in the third set to drop his serve. He then gave Paire an insurance break at 2-4 with a backhand error. Paire served out the match in the next game to advance in one hour and 48 minutes.
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In other second-round matches, 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov defeated Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-5 and will next play eighth seed Dominic Thiem. #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric, a lucky loser in the draw, moved past qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 6-4. The 20 year old is rewarded for his efforts with a round of 16 showdown against top seed Andy Murray.
Local favourite David Ferrer advanced without hitting a ball when 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury.