After 7 years, Zverev breaks Cincinnati duck
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CINCINNATI • Olympic champion Alexander Zverev finally struck gold at the ATP Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday, with his first victory at the US Open tune-up event in seven attempts.
The German has been deep in a rut from his first appearance in 2015 at the Midwest US venue, exiting in the first round every time. But that all changed with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 second-round win over South African Lloyd Harris to break his duck.
"I'm happy where I'm at and I'm happy to get my first win in seven years here," he said. "It's obviously a great start to the week."
The breakthrough win was the seventh in a row for the 24-year-old, which bodes well for the Aug 30-Sept 12 US Open.
"When I came on court and they said Olympic gold medallist, it did give me goosebumps. It made me a little nervous at the beginning of the match because it is a special feeling," he added.
Top seed Daniil Medvedev, last week's Toronto champion, also advanced in a no-drama 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Mackenzie McDonald that took just an hour for the 2019 Cincinnati champion.
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fought off Sebastian Korda for a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory.
Andy Murray's wildcard run ended with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 loss to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.
The Scot, who has been struggling to re-establish himself on tour after his latest injury - a groin problem - lost the contest to the player who knocked Roger Federer out of Wimbledon.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray fired a respectable 11 aces to the 17 of his ninth-seeded opponent in their first meeting, while saving four break points.
"My body felt good, even if hard courts are not easy on the body. Physically I was tired after some of the long rallies, but I felt fine," he said.
The 34-year-old said the only factors that would make him reconsider his comeback were "if my body doesn't feel good" or "my tennis starts going backwards".
The two-time Cincinnati winner, ranked 105th, owns 14 career Masters 1000 titles, the most of any man in a field missing the "Big Three" trio of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - all 20-time Grand Slam champions.
14
The number of Masters 1000 titles Andy Murray owns, the most of any man in a field missing the "Big Three" trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov joined Murray in defeat as the Russian exited 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4 to Canada's 12th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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