Alexander Zverev edged John Millman 6-0 3-6 6-3 to advance the quarter finals at the bett 1 HULKS Championships in Cologne.
Zverev scored his fifth consecutive match in Cologne after winning his first title of the year at last week’s bett 1 HULKS Indoors. The German player has won 11 of his past 12 matches on hard court.
Zverev got three breaks in a row to take a bagel win in the third set. Millman, who pushed Zverev to five sets at last year’s Roland Garros, broke serve in the second game to win the second set 6-3. Zverev broke in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead in the third set, as Millman hit his backhand long. Zverev faced three break points at 4-2 to hold his serve at deuce.
“John is a someone who needs rhythm himself and against a baseliner, against a hard hitter, for me the harder you hit the ball against a hard hitter, for me you hit the ball against him the better it is for him. For me it is not easy to play slowly, so I think my game suits him quite well”, said Zverev.
Zverev set up a second round clash against Adrian Mannarino, who beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 6-3. Zverev won all his three head-to-head matches against Mannarino and beat the Frenchman in four sets at this year’s US Open.
Felix Auger Aliassime came back from one set down to beat Egor Gerasimov 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4). Gerasimov broke serve in the third game to win the first set 6-4. The second set went on serve in the first ten games to draw level to 5-5. Both players traded breaks in the 11th and 12th games to send the set to the tie-break. Auger Aliassime won the tie-break 7-2 to force the match to the third set.
Auger Aliassime took a 4-3 lead after a streak of three consecutive breaks in the third set. Gerasimov broke serve in the tenth game to draw level to 5-5. Auger Aliassime got the first mini-break on the first point. Gerasimov broke back on the seventh pont to draw level to 4-4. Auger Aliassime earned a decisive mini-break on the ninth point to win the second tie-break 7-4.
Jan Lennard Struff cruised past last week’s Sardinia Open Marco Cecchinato 6-3 6-1 with two breaks in each set to set up a second round match against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Steve Johnson 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. Davidovich Fokina earned the first break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Johnson broke straight back to draw level to 5-5. Davidovich Fokina got a double mini-break to take a 5-1 lead. Johnson pulled one mini-break back to claw his way back to 3-5. Davidovich Fokina earned his third mini-break earning three set points at 6-3. Both players traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games en route to 3-3. Davidovich Fokina reeled off the final three points thanks to a break in the eighth game and served out the win on his second match point.
