Reigning Olympic champion Alexander Zverev cruised into the third round at the Australian Open in Melbourne with a 6-4 6-4 6-0 win over Australia’s John Millman in 1 hour and 59 minutes. Zverev hit 14 aces and won 85% of his first serve points.
Zverev, who has not dropped a set at Melbourne Park this year, set up a third round match against world number 124 Radu Albot from Moldova, who beat Australian wild card Alexandar Vukic 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three breaks were exchanged at the start of the opening set. Zverev earned an early break in the first game, but Millman broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Zverev broke for the second time at 15 in the third game and held serve to consolidate the break for 3-1 before closing out the first set with a break in the 10th game after 47 minutes. The German player made 15 unforced errors to 14 winners.
Zverev broke again in the fourth game of the second set to open up a 3-1 lead. He came under pressure in the sixth game, when he had to save two break points at 3-2 15-40, but he held his next service games to seal the second set.
Zverev played his best tennis in the third set and broke in the opening game. The 2021 ATP Finals champion did not give anything on his serve and reeled off four consecutive games to open up a 4-0 lead. He sealed a bagel win with his third break in the fifth game. Zverev has extended his lead to 3-0 in his three head-to-head matches against Millman.
Zverev reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open in 2020 and his first Major final at the 2020 US Open, rallying from two sets down for the first time to beat Pablo Carreno Busta in the semifinal before squandering a two-set lead for the first time against Dominic Thiem in the championship match.
Millman was aiming to reach the third round for the third time in his eighth appearance in Melbourne in front of his home fans. Zverev admitted in the post-match interview that he enjoyed the atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena despite the support for the local player.
“Sport needs atmosphere and the people. It doesn’t matter if you are for me or against me. I enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy being on court in front of all of you guys. I think spectators bring the emotions, and sport without spectators is like sport without emotions, so I think it is incredible to play in front of everybody”, said Zverev.
