Germany’s Alexander Zverev fired 20 aces past Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer to move into the Wimbledon second round with a hard-earned 6-4 7-6(4) 7-6(5) win on Thursday.
The 19th seed did not have an easy tournament start against the world number 153, whose own first serve percentage matched that of Zverev, and with the German getting just two break opportunities in total in the first two sets.
He next plays another lower-ranked player in Japan’s world number 116 Yosuke Watanuki with little time to rest as the schedule has been reworked following all the rain delays.
“He was a very tough opponent and the rain was a very tough opponent,” said Zverev, whose match was one of the last first- round clashes to finish. “I’m just happy to be back at Wimbledon.”
He missed the tournament last year following his ankle injury at the French Open.
“I missed it last year with a bad injury so just to be on this court I’m happy to be here with 10,000 people. I know Wimbledon is the most historic tennis tournament in the world and maybe the most historic sporting event in the world.
“I play again tomorrow and the day after, well if I win of course. It’s going to be a tough few days with back-to-back matches and it is never easy physically – I’m just happy to be playing tennis now,” Zverev said.
The 26-year-old snatched a break at 3-3 in the first set before serving it out and both players held serve until left-hander Brouwer carved out two set points at 6-5.
Zverev, a former world number two, saved them both to force a tiebreak, winning it with another booming ace.
Both players comfortably held serve in the third to take it to another tiebreak and Zverev fired down his 20th ace to seal victory on his third match point.
Rublev Claims 50th Grand Slam Win
Andrey Rublev overcame an opening set blip to beat Aslan Karatsev 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4 7-5 in an all-Russian clash on Thursday to claim his 50th Grand Slam match victory and move into the Wimbledon third round.
Karatsev had beaten Rublev in their only previous meeting en route to his first Tour-level title but the seventh seed exacted revenge on the back of an effective service game and decisive net play.
The pair looked evenly matched for much of the near-three-hour contest as Karatsev entertained the crowd with his powerful groundstrokes, but he struggled to break Rublev and that proved to be the difference.
Rublev, who did not play at Wimbledon last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, will next face the winner of the match between wildcard David Goffin and qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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