Zverev Avenges Earlier Loss Against Veteran In Nice

#NextGen star Alexander Zverev avenged an earlier loss to Marcel Granollers and reached his fourth quarter-final of the season on Wednesday at the Open de Nice Cote d’ Azur.

Zverev, who had lost to Granollers in three sets at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, prevailed 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-2 in two hours and 41 minutes. In the third set, the 19-year-old German didn’t face a break point and broke the 30 year old twice to get the win. “He’s one of the best clay-court players… and he’s been playing well,” Zverev said. “He has a lot of shots. He can do variety as well, so it was good for me to win that match.”

Zverev, No. 48 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will play #NextGen star Taylor Fritz or second seed Gilles Simon. The 6’6” right-hander will try to reach his second semi-final of the season after reaching the same stage at the Open Sud de France in February.

Seventh seed Andreas Seppi came from behind to grab his second win in six tries against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The Italian hit seven aces and saved 10 of 12 break points to reach his second quarter-final of the season (Garanti Koza Sofia Open).

“It was a difficult match for sure, I always have tough matches against him,” Seppi said. “Hopefully I can play another good match tomorrow.”

Seppi will play first seed Dominic Thiem or Leonardo Mayer.