Zverev Tops Thiem, Rublev Wins In Halle; Medvedev, Tsitsipas Back Tomorrow
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In Halle, Germany, at the Terra Wortmann Open in first round action No. 3 seed Andrey Rublev ousted Yibing Wu in a match that went the distance 6-4, 6-7(5-7), 6-2.
Rublev, ranked No. 7, hit 13 aces, had three doubles, won 41/51 (80%) on first serve points and broke serve five times in the win.
German star Alexander Zverev got by Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of their 2020 US Open final. Zverev, a 2-time finalist in Halle, dropped just five points on first serve.
“I’m happy to get the win,” Zverev told the ATP. “Obviously grass is a difficult surface to get a rhythm on. It was a typical grass match, in a way, one break in each set. All-in-all I’m happy to be through and hopefully will have some more matches here.
“I was moving well. I was not hitting the ball as well as I wanted to, but it’s very difficult, the first time on grass in two years.”
Behind 15 aces, Alexander Bublik stunned upended former champion and No. 7 seed Borna Coric 6-3, 6-1.
Defending champion and No. 6 seed Hubert Hurkacz won toughed out Christopher Eubanks in three sets 6-4, 6-7(13-11), 6-3.
Jannik Sinner also dismissed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut ousted Andrea Vavassori 6-3, 6-4, Den Bosch champion Tallon Griekspoor defeated Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain 6-2, 7-5 and Lorenzo Sonego knocked out Aslan Karatsev in three 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. (31y,53r) Yannick Hanfmann of Germany handled (24y,r) Germany’s Louis Wessels 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
On tap tomorrow in second round play, No. 1 Daniil Medvedev locks up with Laslo Djere. The two have split two head-to-head meetings on tour. Medvedev took their most recent battle at the French last year.
No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas draws Nicolas Jarry having also split two collisions on tour. Tsitsipas won in Monte Carlo in April.
Bautista Agut will challenge Brandon Nakashima, Zverev locks up with Denis Shapovalov plus Jan-Lennard Struff draws Roman Safiullin.
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