Clinical Zverev Beats De Minaur, Moves Into Shanghai QFs
11 October 2018 06:41
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev executed a clinical performance — dominant on serve and clever in his groundstroke variety — to defeat fellow #NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday for a place in the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarter-finals. The victory moves the German one match win away from qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. Buy Your London Tickets
With a 48-15 match record this year, Zverev has compiled the most tour-level victories in 2018, tied with Dominic Thiem (48), who is also in the running to take clinch one of the singles berths with one month to go until the start of the Nitto ATP Finals.
Zverev will next face 11th-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund, runner-up at the Grand Prix Hassan II (l. to Andujar), who knocked out Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6(5), 6-3 in 90 minutes. Jarry struck 17 aces, but had his serve broken three times.
Zverev swept through the 27-minute opener, winning 12 of his 13 first-service points and saving three break points in the seventh game when serving for the set. At 4-3 in the second set, Zverev made back-to-back errors for the first time on his forehand to drop to 15/40, but clever service placement helped the German to maintain his advantage. Zverev closed out for his third victory over De Minaur in 2018 with an ace.
Zverev leads Edmund 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a victory at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in May. Edmund reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this year.
The 19-year-old De Minaur, runner-up at the Sydney International and the Citi Open this year, remains in a the running to qualify for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 6-10 November. Buy Your Milan Tickets .readfullarticle
