Alexander Zverev conquered a tough effort by Matteo Arnaldi on Thursday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where the top seeds fought 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 victory to claim his 500th race profit at tour level.
“It’s a great achievement. There are not many players who have reached that milestone,” Zverev said after the game. “Of course I still want to come 500 hopefully, and maybe even more! If you start your career, you want to play on tour, you want a successful career, win as many matches as possible. I think 500 is definitely a milestone, and I’m happy with that.”
The 28-year-old, now 37-14 of the season, was born the first man in 1990 or later who records 500 profits at Tour level. A seven-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, the German Next stands for a well-known rival in the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, who has a perfect 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2head record against Zverev, with two of those victories this season (Buenos Aires, Madrid). Cerundolo, in 14th place, driven fellow countryman Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4.
Zverev fought these two weeks for the first time since Wimbledon was not at his best in his victory on the third round, with Arnaldi setting a few set points in the opener-first with a routine Backhand-Volleymiss, then with a double error on 4/5 in the Tie-Break. The 32nd seed seized its moment behind its own delivery and released a Serve +1 Forehand to achieve an advantage of one set.
The 2017 champion played in shape as the game progressed, so that the Italian looks rarely allowed in the return. Over sets two and three, Zverev left only four points behind his first serve, according to the Infosys ATP statistics, to go ahead after two hours and 46 minutes. Zverev has also made a noticeable attempt to move forward all night and to convert 19 of 26 net points.
“I think I started playing better from the basic line. The longer the game went on, I started to find my rhythm a bit,” Zverev said. “It was actually my backhand that was a bit finished in the beginning, which is strange. Don’t happen often. But after I found that shot, I was comfortable and I was happy with the level.”
The number 3 in the PIF ATP ranking now leads Zverev with Arnaldi 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2head series. Zverev defeated Arnaldi earlier this year in Acapulco.
In other Toronto action, Fifth Seed Holger Rune marched past 29th seed Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-4. Rune, a finalist at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells this year, was not confronted with a breaking point against Muller and will then meet the 10th seed Daniil Medvedev or defending champion Alexei Popyrin. Rune achieved two straight victories this week after he had withdrawn from Washington with a back injury. The DAN also spent three days practicing with former number 1 Andre Agassi on the ATP 500.
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