Spoiler:
Former finalist Alexander Zverev has charged into the fourth round of the Miami Open presented by Itau for the fourth time after seeing off an early challenge from Christopher Eubanks Monday.
Fourth-seeded Zverev denied Eubanks when the free-swinging American served for the first set at 5-3 and then broke the 27-year-old World No. 32 early in the second set to open a 3-0 lead, which he rode to his 16th match win of the year.
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“It was a difficult match. I thought he was in control of it throughout the first set,” said Zverev, who had to fight of three break points to serve out the match. “I was just hanging on and sometimes that is just what you need to do.
“He came out swinging and didn’t give me chances to be aggressive. I tried to mix it up from the baseline. I was surprised how well he was playing from the baseline, not giving me many unforced errors. He makes a lot but usually misses a lot but today he wasn’t missing, especially through some stages of the first set.”
The German was solid on serve throughout, putting 78 per cent of first serves into play and saving four of five break points. He was rock solid behind his second delivery, winning 13 of 16 second-serve points, compared to Eubanks' 8 of 16 mark.
Fourth-seeded Zverev denied Eubanks when the free-swinging American served for the first set at 5-3 and then broke the 27-year-old World No. 32 early in the second set to open a 3-0 lead, which he rode to his 16th match win of the year.
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“It was a difficult match. I thought he was in control of it throughout the first set,” said Zverev, who had to fight of three break points to serve out the match. “I was just hanging on and sometimes that is just what you need to do.
“He came out swinging and didn’t give me chances to be aggressive. I tried to mix it up from the baseline. I was surprised how well he was playing from the baseline, not giving me many unforced errors. He makes a lot but usually misses a lot but today he wasn’t missing, especially through some stages of the first set.”
The German was solid on serve throughout, putting 78 per cent of first serves into play and saving four of five break points. He was rock solid behind his second delivery, winning 13 of 16 second-serve points, compared to Eubanks' 8 of 16 mark.