After winning his second BMW Open by FWU crown last week, Alexander Zverev continued his fine form at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday night, defeating Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 7-5.

The German No.1, who reached the quarter-finals in 2017 (l. to Cuevas), won 85 per cent of points behind his first serve and did not face a single break point en route to the third round. Zverev joins Juan Martin del Potro and Dominic Thiem with an ATP World Tour-leading 22 wins in 2018 (22-7).

The 20-year-old has now won nine of 11 matches on clay this season and improves to 9-3 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events this year. The second seed in the Spanish capital reached the Miami Open presented by Itaú final in March (l. to Isner) before a run to the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Nishikori) in April.

Zverev started quickly on Court Manolo Santana, breaking serve in the opening game of the match to take an early lead. The pressure continued throughout the set, with the World No. 3 securing a second break to lead 5-2 before emphatically taking a one-set lead, serving out the set to love with his third ace. The second set saw Donskoy provide a much tougher test for the Munich champion, but Zverev pounced at 5-5 to snatch a crucial break before converting his first match point with a powerful run-around forehand down the line.

Zverev will play Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer for a place in the quarter-finals. Mayer cruised past Fernando Verdasco, 6-2, 6-1, after the Spaniard had recorded his 500th career singles match win on Tuesday. The World No. 45 saved three break points  faced and clinched victory after 70 minutes with his third ace of the match.

Kubot/Melo Reach Quarter-Finals
Defending champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo defeated Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers 7-5, 7-6(10) to advance to the quarter-finals. The top seeds failed to convert two match points at 5-4 in the second set, before clinching the win in a 22-point tie-break after saving three set points to avoid a decisive Match Tie-break.

The Uruguayan-Spanish duo await Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman or wild cards Florin Mergea and Daniel Nestor with a place in the semi-finals on the line.

Fifth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares outlasted Dutch duo Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 3-6, 10-6. The Acapulco titlists (d. Bryan/Bryan) will face Damir Dzumhur and Franko Skugor or Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan for a place in the quarter-finals. Dzumhur and Skugor moved on after a 6-3, 6-4 win over Karen Khachanov and Lucas Pouille.

Miami Open presented by Itaú champion John Isner advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open third round on Wednesday, defeating fellow American Ryan Harrison 7-6(1), 7-6(7).

Isner, currently ranked at a career-high No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, hit 22 aces in the one-hour, 31-minute encounter en route to victory. Isner improves to 7-3 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Harrison, levelling their 2018 series at 1-1 after Harrison’s success in Acapulco three months ago.

In a match which featured no breaks of serve, Isner required two tie-breaks to secure his 10th victory in Madrid. The 33-year-old dominated the opening set decider, firing his 11th ace of the match to clinch a one-set advantage. The second tie-break proved far more competitive, with both men failing to convert set points before Isner unleashed a powerful forehand into the corner to move into the next round.

Isner will next face Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. The 2017 semi-finalist (l. to Thiem) took just short of two hours to overcome Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-2. Cuevas hit 15 aces throughout the second-round clash and dropped just nine points on serve to book a third-round meeting with World No. 9 Isner.

Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer cruised past Fernando Verdasco, who recorded his 500th career singles match win on Tuesday, 6-2, 6-1. The World No. 45 saved all three break points he faced against the Spaniard and clinched victory after 70 minutes with his third ace of the match. Mayer will face Evgeny Donskoy of Russia or second seed Alexander Zverev for a place in the quarter-finals.

Did You Know?
John Isner has now won 10 matches at the Mutua Madrid Open (10-6). The American most notably reached the quarter-finals on his last appearance in the Spanish capital, defeating Adrian Mannarino, Thomaz Bellucci and Nick Kyrgios before falling to Tomas Berdych in a final-set tie-break.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal recorded his 20th straight clay-court match win and improved to 48 consecutive sets won on the surface Wednesday as he started his quest for a sixth Mutua Madrid Open trophy.

The Spanish superstar soon dismantled the game of France’s Gael Monfils, hitting 17 winners in a 6-3, 6-1 second-round victory that lasted 74 minutes. He is now two sets shy of breaking John McEnroe’s record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface (carpet) in 1984, including 10 to win the Madrid Indoor Open.

Nadal, who improved to 49-10 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, will next meet fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who will become the Tournament Director in 2019, or No. 13 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.

Nadal got off to a 3-0 lead in his first match on Court Manolo Santana, but talented former World No. 6 Monfils didn’t give up fighting and held break point chances in the first (one) and third games (two). Nadal lost just one of his 13 service points in the 31-minute second set that ended with Monfils, the 2008 and 2010 quarter-finalist, striking a backhand long.

Nadal, who turns 32 on 3 June, is now 17-1 on the season (13-0 on clay), which includes 11th titles at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Nishikori) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas). He is also 14-2 lifetime against Monfils in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.