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Eighth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the China Open in Beijing on Saturday, September 30. The match lasted for a little more than two hours, as the 26-year-old German coasted to a victory in the end.
Zverev will face Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the quarterfinal on Monday. It will be a battle between two very powerful hitters, but Zverev will start as the slight favourite. The German has made a nice comeback from an injury that stalled his progress last year, winning a couple of tournaments since.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1. Zverev feasted on Davidovich Fokina's serve
Zverev absolutely toyed with Davidovich Fokina's serve during the last two sets of the match. The German had as many as 18 break point opportunities in the match, of which he was able to convert eight.
Zverev also fired nine aces in the match and won 61% and 63% of the points on his first and second serves, respectively. The same stats for Davidovich Fokina stood at 52% and 45%, respectively.
However, the Spaniard did reasonably well in the first set to take it into a tie-break and then win it too. The Spaniard was actually up a break by breaking the German's serve in the seventh game, but Zverev broke back to level the score. The tie-break was evenly contested, but Davidovich Fokina managed to sneak through in the end.
#2. Davidovich Fokina's high-risk approach did not pay
Davidovich Fokina did not get involved in crosscourt exchanges for the most part despite holding his own with his backhand in the crosscourt backhand exchanges in the first set. The Spaniard often pulled the trigger by opting to play down-the-line shots off either wing, but hit his shots wide on a number of occasions.
Zverev, in comparison, committed fewer errors and also hit a few good approaches before finishing points with volleys. The German broke the Spaniard repeatedly in the last two sets to make it a one-sided affair. The German was exceptional at the net, hitting deft drop volleys.
Zverev won the match quite deservingly to set up a clash with Jarry.
