Madrid – Alexander Zverev started the Masters tournament in Madrid with an impressive performance. In his opening match, the best German tennis player beat Kei Nishikori of Japan 6: 3, 6: 2. After his quarter-final defeat at the ATP tournament in Munich five days earlier, the fifth-seeded hamburger showed a huge improvement and ended the match against the 43rd seed. In the world ranking after 74 minutes with a far-fetched backhand. Three years ago he won the championship without losing any set or serve.

“I am very happy with my performance, let’s see how it goes in this tournament,” Zverev said after his impressive and dominant performance. “I felt good today, not only when I was serving, but also from the base. I hope I can maintain my performance,” he added shortly afterwards at Sky, but emphasized: “It was only the second round.”

Zverev is thinking clearly

Zverev received a break to 2: 3 in the first set, but he was clearly superior, mainly due to base hits, which are tough at times and are in very good shape. In nearly every Nishikori Service game, he’s got one or more Break Balls. The world number six could also be satisfied with his service this time around: He finished the first set with third out of a total of five aces, and did not make a double foul.

Zverev, who was saying goodbye in the first round, will now face John Millman (Australia) or Dan Evans (Great Britain) in the Round of 16, and it is then possible to enter into a duel against King Rafael Nadal (Spain). In Madrid, Zverev also plays in doubles with Tim Putz (Frankfurt / Main).