Alexander Zverev defeated Egor Gerasimov 7-6(5) 6-4 7-5 to continue his march at the Australian Open.
The German is surprisingly yet to drop a set after two rounds at this year’s Australian Open as he secured victory over Egor Gerasimov.
It was a solid start to the match from Zverev as he served well and looked to finish the points off at the net in a confident opening set.
However on return the same mistakes reoccurred with a lack of aggression especially becoming apparent as he failed to convert any of the six break points created in the opening few return games.
As for Gerasimov, he recovered in the latter stages of the set to produce more efficient service games as he looked to dominate on first serve.
But a lack of threatening returns meant that no break point opportunities were created for the Belarusian as a tiebreak was needed to separate the two players.
The 7th seed won five of the first six points and the last two points of the tiebreak to edge into a set lead after 51 minutes.
It was more of the same in the second set for Zverev who couldn’t be aggressive enough when it really mattered as he wasted two more break point opportunities.
There was sign of increased confidence for the German as he used a lot of variety in his shots to keep Gerasimov constantly thinking.
In the end Zverev’s pressure paid off as on the tenth break point of the match, he converted and roared to his camp as he sealed the second set.
After one hour and 34 minutes, @AlexZverev earns the first break of the match to take the second set 6-4.#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/d46ioRvoUu
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2020
Despite his good serving, the world number 98 found it difficult to break the rhythm and flow of Zverev during the match as some unforced errors cost him the break in the fourth game.
Some old habits still remain the same for Zverev though as a sloppy service game while serving for the match gave Gerasimov some hope.
But the result was academic at this point and a third break of serve secured another straight sets win as well as a place in the last 32.
Another great match from the German, who has so far avoided dramatic grand slam matches and conserved energy as he looks to make a statement for later on in the tournament.
Next for Zverev will be either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Fernando Verdasco on Saturday, who will provide more firepower for the German to try and contend with.
