Zverev Races To Finish Line In Acapulco Opener

Second seed Alexander Zverev shook off a slow start and rounded into form on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, moving past qualifier Jason Jung of Chinese Taipei 7-6(6), 6-1 to reach the second round in Acapulco.

”The longer the match went, the better I started to play,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “My serve is something that I need to improve, but all in all, it’s the first round that I expected. It could have been a lot tougher.”

The German quickly trailed 0-3 in the first set after three double faults led to him being broken in his opening service game. He found the range on his groundstrokes and broke Jung at 2-4 to get the set back on serve, which eventually moved into a tie-break.

Zverev reached set point at 6/5, but squandered his chance with an ill-advised drop shot. A backhand from Jung at 6/6 found the top of the tape and Zverev grabbed the early advantage with an aggressive approach.

The second seed relaxed considerably in the second set, breaking Jung three more times to advance in 73 minutes. Last year’s runner-up (l. to Kyrgios) will face another qualifier in the second round when he meets American Tommy Paul.

Defending champion and sixth seed Nick Kyrgios saw his title defence in Acapulco last just 32 minutes. The Aussie was forced to retire with a left wrist injury against Ugo Humbert after the Frenchman took the first set 6-3.

Humbert moved to 10-4 this season, with the 21-year-old clinching his maiden ATP Tour title last month in Auckland. He’ll play Taylor Fritz in the second round after the American defeated Aussie John Millman 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime continued his winning ways with a tight 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Aussie lucky loser Alex Bolt. The #NextGenATP Canadian bravely saved two set points on his serve at 4-5 in the second set before going on to prevail in one hour and 36 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime has won nine of his past 11 matches after finishing runner-up this month in Rotterdam (l. to Monfils) and Marseille (l. to Tsitsipas). Awaiting him in the next round is Brit Kyle Edmund, who took his second ATP Tour title earlier this month in New York (d. Seppi).

Fifth seed John Isner hammered 22 aces and didn’t face a break point in dismissing German wild card Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4). He’ll take on a qualifier in the next round when he faces fellow American Marcos Giron.