Zverev on a roll in Vienna after brushing aside Giron
Alexander Zverev, the world No.3, has moved smoothly into the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour's Vienna Open.
The German needed only 72 minutes to defeat American Marcos Giron 6-2 7-5 on Wednesday night and will now face Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, who advanced when Frenchman Gael Monfils withdrew from their second-round match because of an illness.
"He served incredibly well in the second set, so I'm very happy that I managed it in two sets," Zverev, who recorded a personal best 61st win of the year, said.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion is still suffering the consequences of pneumonia, which forced him to miss the China Open in Beijing last month.
"I'm not completely fit. It takes months, but I'm feeling better and better," he added.
Producing backhand winners from ANYWHERE 😎#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen | @AlexZverev pic.twitter.com/xPqEYPmArz
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 23, 2024
Grigor Dimitrov beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-4 7-5 and the third-seeded Bulgarian will face Czech Tomas Machac next.
Brandon Nakashima, Karen Khachanov and Matteo Berrettini also advanced.
At the Swiss Indoors, top seed Andrey Rublev enjoyed a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 win against Chile's Alejandro Tabilo and the Russian is on track to face Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the quarters.
There was also success in Basel for tour veterans Stan Wawrinka and David Goffin, along with Spanish duo Roberto Bautista-Agut and Pedro Martinez.
Meanwhile defending champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week's Paris Masters.
The former top-ranked player said in an Instagram post he is "sorry to everyone who was hoping to see me play there".
"I have a lot of great memories winning seven titles there and hope to be back with you next year."
Djokovic, 37, played at the Six Kings Slam exhibition last week but no reason was given for his withdrawal.
He has won a record seven titles at the Paris indoor tournament. His decision not to play could jeopardise his chances to qualify for the year-ending ATP Finals.
With AAP & the AP.