Spoiler:
Alexander Zverev continued his run of excellence in the early rounds of this year's ATP Masters 1000s with an assured 7-6(3), 6-2 win against Italy's Luciano Darderi on Sunday night at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The third-seeded German has now advanced to the last 16 at all five Masters 1000s played in 2024, with four more events at that prestigious level still to come.
Zverev saved the lone break point he faced against the home favourite in Rome, battling through four deuces to hold for 5-2 in the second set before breaking at love to close out the match. He won 84 per cent (41/49) of his first-serve points and hit 12 aces to just one double fault, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
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After one hour, 48 minutes of play against the 22-year-old Darderi, who was the highest-ranked Italian remaining in the singles draw, Zverev was reminded of another player from the host nation.
"The guy is serving 225 [km/h] and hitting the forehand as hard as Berrettini sometimes, so he reminded me of him a little bit," the German said after the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. "He's young, he's up and coming. I don't know what the Italians get to eat but there seems to be so many young guys and so many great players, and he's definitely one of them.
"I thought the match went quite well. I thought I moved around the court quite well. I missed maybe a little bit more than I wanted to but that's part of tennis and I'm happy with the win."
The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings will next meet Portugal's Nuno Borges, who saved a match point in a 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) win against Italy's Francesco Passaro earlier on Sunday.
Zverev saved the lone break point he faced against the home favourite in Rome, battling through four deuces to hold for 5-2 in the second set before breaking at love to close out the match. He won 84 per cent (41/49) of his first-serve points and hit 12 aces to just one double fault, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
The Official App Of Tennis | Download ATP WTA Live App
After one hour, 48 minutes of play against the 22-year-old Darderi, who was the highest-ranked Italian remaining in the singles draw, Zverev was reminded of another player from the host nation.
"The guy is serving 225 [km/h] and hitting the forehand as hard as Berrettini sometimes, so he reminded me of him a little bit," the German said after the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. "He's young, he's up and coming. I don't know what the Italians get to eat but there seems to be so many young guys and so many great players, and he's definitely one of them.
"I thought the match went quite well. I thought I moved around the court quite well. I missed maybe a little bit more than I wanted to but that's part of tennis and I'm happy with the win."
The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings will next meet Portugal's Nuno Borges, who saved a match point in a 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) win against Italy's Francesco Passaro earlier on Sunday.
