Zverev Cruises Through In Madrid

Alexander Zverev continued his love affair with the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday when he wasted little time in reaching the fourth round. The German overpowered French qualifier Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes.

Zverev survived an opening-round scare against Roberto Carballes Baena but faced no such problems against Grenier. He struck 26 winners, won 86 per cent (17/20) of net points and broke Grenier’s serve six times to earn his 12th win of the season.

“Today I felt great,” Zverev said. “Maybe Hugo was a bit nervous, first time in the third round at a [ATP] Masters [1000] and that is big for any player. In general I am happy that I kept my composure and that I am through.”

The 13th seed has often produced his best level on the Madrid clay, holding a 21-3 record at the ATP Masters 1000 event. He has reached at least the quarter-finals in all five of his previous appearances, lifting the trophy in 2018 and 2021.

Zverev will continue the quest for his first tour-level title of the season when he takes on top seed Carlos Alcaraz or Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

“Both of those players are great players,” Zverev said when asked about playing Alcaraz or Dimitrov in the fourth round. “It is going to be difficult no matter who it is against. Of course with Carlos that would be a matchup people would look forward to. We played in the final here last year, played a massive match at [Roland Garros] before I got injured.”

The 27-year-old Grenier was making his ATP Masters 1000 debut and earned upset wins against Diego Schwartzman and Sebastian Korda to reach the third round. The Frenchman is up nine places to No. 119 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.