Alexander Zverev overcame Federico Delbonis 6-1 7-5 to reach the third round at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Zverev is the highest-ranked player remaining at this tournament.
After losing the first four points of the match on return, Zverev broke three times to take the first set 6-1. Zverev dropped dropped just three points on serve.
Delbonis went up an early break to take a 1-0 lead. Zverev converted his third break-back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. The German player was tested by Delbonis, who earned his second break in the fifth game to take a 4-2 lead. Delbonis earned a break point for 5-2, but he was not able to convert it.
Zverev broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Delbonis fended off a match point at 4-5 and another at 5-6. Zverev converted his third opportunity, as Delbonis netted a backhand.
“I think just coming back, never letting him get too far ahead was important. I broke him back twice, so that is helpful. If you are down 4-1, 5-2, something like that, it’s not easy to come back”, said Zverev.
Zverev would come within 125 points of Danil Medvedev and 235 points of Novak Djokovic with a sixth ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo. The German player reached a semifinal in 2018.
“This is the only Masters 1000 on clay I have not won yet, but I am very motivated to play great tennis and I hope I can show that on court this week”, said Zverev.
Zverev set up a third round match against Pablo Carreno Busta, who advanced after his opponent Alexander Bublik retired in the third round.Zverev leads 2-0 in his previous two head-to-head matches against Carreno Busta. The German star came back from two sets down in the 2020 US Open semifinals in their most recent head-to-head match.
