Alexander Zverev has been playing some of the best tennis in the world in recent months, and his confidence showed on Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open.
Despite falling behind a break in the second set, the German defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 7-5 to reach the second round in Vienna. The 24-year-old is now one win from securing his 300th tour-level victory (299-138).
Zverev has won 21 of his past 23 matches dating back to the start of the Tokyo Olympics. The second seed will attempt to extend his hot streak when he faces Australian Alex de Minaur, who ousted Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-6(3) on Monday.
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Krajinovic is a dangerous foe, who on his day is capable of competing against anyone on the ATP Tour. The 29-year-old, currently No. 40 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, put his skills on display to take a 5-2 lead in the second set against Zverev.
But the Serbian made four errors to break himself at 5-3, and that was the only opening Zverev needed. The Monaco resident played more consistently than his opponent. He broke Krajinovic’s serve for the fourth time at 5-5 when the unseeded player missed a backhand into the net, and then served out the match to love. Zverev completed his victory with his 12th ace.
The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion, who has already qualified for the season finale in Turin from 14-21 November, has won four titles this year. He added two ATP Masters 1000 trophies to his collection in Madrid and Cincinnati, triumphed in Acapulco and earned the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The World No. 4 owns a 4-1 ATP Head2Head lead against De Minaur. However, the Australian won their most recent clash at last year’s ATP Cup.