mtenis.com.pl

German plays Djokovic or Raonic in quarter-finals

Alexander Zverev was impressive on Sunday, as he recorded his 50th major championship match win for a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.

The German struck 44 winners, including 15 aces, to beat No. 23 seed Lajovic 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 in two hours and 21 minutes for a place in his fifth Grand Slam quarter-final.

“Today was a pretty good match, much colder than the other days,” said Zverev. “I’m very happy with a win and it could have gone either way early on. It wasn’t easy.”

Zverev will now prepare to face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the eight-time Australian Open champion, or 2016 semi-finalist and No. 14 seed Milos Raonic of Canada on Tuesday. Zverev trails Djokovic 2-5 in their ATP Head2Head series and is 2-2 against Raonic.

You May Also Like: Dimitrov Upsets Thiem At Australian Open
Lajovic started positively in his bid to beat Zverev for the first time in three ATP Head2Head meetings. But groundstroke errors started to mount for Lajovic and Zverev recovered, breaking serve in the third and seventh games. Lajovic saved one set point at 3-5, with a superb backhand winner off a Zverev return.

Following an exchange of service breaks late in the second set, Zverev dominated in the tie-break and kept his Serbian opponent deep behind the baseline. Zverev clinched the second set with a mid-court forehand winner, then capitalised on four Lajovic errors at 1-2 in the third set. Zverev completed victory by striking his 15th ace.

“I played some quality tennis today… and I felt really good on the court, [for the] first time in a while," said Lajovic. "I'm positive [about] this tournament. I'm disappointed right now, but [I’m] looking towards [the] future. I think I'm in a good spot.”

The 17-year-old accepts a wild card into the ATP 500
#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has accepted a wild card into the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, the tournament announced Tuesday.

The 17-year-old began his 2021 season on a high note by qualifying for his first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open, where he reached the second round. The teen also looked impressive in an ATP 250 at Melbourne Park, upsetting top seed David Goffin at the Great Ocean Road Open.


Alcaraz joins a stacked field, which will feature three Top 10 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Leading the way are 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, World No. 7 Alexander Zverev and World No. 9 Diego Schwartzman.

Other players to watch include #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, former World No. 3s Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic, two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson and American No. 1 John Isner.

Top seed Tsitsipas starts against Paire
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are the top two seeds at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, and they’ve both been handed big challenges straight out of the gate at the ATP 500 event.

#NextGenATP player Carlos Alcaraz will be Alexander Zverev’s first-round opponent. The 17-year-old Spaniard, who qualified for the Australian Open and reached the second round, is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. Fourth seed Milos Raonic and sixth seed Fabio Fognini have also landed in Zverev’s half of the draw.

You May Also Like: Rublev Headlines Packed Section Of Dubai Draw
Top seed Tsitsipas arrives in Acapulco looking for his first title of the year, but he’ll have to go through a section full of firepower if he hopes to advance. In addition to playing Benoit Paire in the first round, should Tsitsipas advance he could be facing big-servers John Isner and seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime quarter-finals, respectively.

Third seed Diego Schwartzman and fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who won here in 2014, also anchors Tsitsipas’ half of the draw. Wild card Sebastian Korda, who takes on Marin Cilic in the opening round, is another #NextGenATP player in the mix in Acapulco.