NextGen Zverev Moves On In Halle

NextGen player Alexander Zverev moved into the second round of the Gerry Weber Open on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over seventh seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

The 19-year-old German erased five of six break points and was three-for-three in breaking Troicki. “Viktor is a very good grass-court player,” Zverev said. “So I feel pretty good. I’m playing well. I didn’t do a lot of mistakes and served quite well, as well as returned quite well which is probably the most important on grass.”

Zverev, No. 38 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will face countryman Benjamin Becker in the second round in Halle. Zverev won their prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year on clay in Munich.

American Taylor Fritz, another NextGen player, fell on Tuesday 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 to Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita. Their match resumed in the first-set tie-break on Tuesday after rain halted play on Monday.

In a rematch of the 2007 Halle final, fourth seed Tomas Berdych faces Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Berdych leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-2, including the win in Halle in 2007.

German wild card Dustin Brown faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who’s fresh off a career-best quarter-finals appearance at Roland Garros.