VIENNA/STARNBERG, October 28, 2021
Alexander Zverev of Germany earned his 300th match win on the ATP Tour by beating Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in Thursday’s second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. The No. 2 seed of the ATP 500 tournament fired 17 aces and won 89 per cent of his first-service points to advance after one hour and 42 minutes.
💯 x 3@AlexZverev gets the 300th win of his career in Vienna!#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/KTVVGvAPhR
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 28, 2021
“I started on the Tour when I was 16 years old and now being 24, I’m still quite young, so I’m quite happy to have this achievement at an early stage in my career. Hopefully there a lot more coming,” Zverev told ATPTour.com.
“This is definitely a massive milestone for me,” Zverev said in his post-match interview. “The most memorable one is the first one against Haase in Hamburg when I was 17. [I would also say my] first win against Roger in Halle, because it was in Germany as well… and I think the first tournament victory against Stan in St. Petersburg [in 2016].”
The 24-year-old Hamburg native will next take on Canadian No. 6 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who rallied past Indian Wells champion Cameron Norrie from Great Britain 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 after two hours and 36 minutes.
Later in the evening at the Stadthalle in Vienna, Frances Tiafoe knocked out top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The US-American qualifier came back from a 3-0 deficit in the third set to prevail after one hour and 49 minutes.
“You’ve got fans going nuts early in the match. I want to play. I want to be out there, I want to give it my all. You’ve got little kids screaming ‘Big Foe’ and that’s what it’s about,” Tiafoe said. “It’s almost irrelevant who you’re playing. Obviously I want to beat Stefanos and these guys, it’s always good to have on the resumé. It’s been great.”
Tiafoe will next take on Diego Schwarztman of Argentina, who edged past Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 after two hours and 32 minutes.
