Zverev Conquers Diallo and Sands Melbourne’s Second Round

Match snapshot

Alexander Zverev, the 2023 Australian Open finalist, opened his campaign with a four-set victory over Canadian Gabriel Diallo, prevailing 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 after two hours and 43 minutes.

Afterwards, Zverev indicated that the first set hadn’t been at his best, but he felt good once he found his rhythm and improved his level as the match progressed.

He added that he believed things could not get worse from there, and the performance improved markedly as the encounter wore on.

The German advances to the Melbourne second round for the tenth consecutive year and will meet the winner of the clash between Australian Alexei Popyrin and Frenchman Alexandre Muller on Monday.

With a light-hearted touch, Zverev suggested he already knows how to play and does not need 48 experts or 80 million Germans to tell him how to approach every Grand Slam he competes in.

Round 1 notes

In other first-round action, Italian Flavio Cobolli, seeded 20, was eliminated by British qualifier Arthur Fery in straight sets (7-6, 6-4, 6-1).

Fery’s progress sets up a second-round meeting with Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who outlasted Miomir Kecmanovic in a five-set thriller (6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, the 18th seed, defeated Chinese Zhang Zhizhen (6-3, 7-6, 6-3) to advance and prepare for a potential rematch with Damir Dzumhur, who beat Liam Draper (7-5, 6-0, 6-4) in another opening-round clash.

On the day’s other notable results, Emilio Nava defeated Kypson in a long five-setter (6-2, 7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 7-6), signaling a busy path ahead for several contenders in the early stages of the tournament.

Caption: Zverev powers into the Melbourne second round after a four-set win.

Punchline 1: If Zverev keeps serving like that, the ball will start charging rent to the net. Punchline 2: In Melbourne, even the pigeons are learning to read the scoreboard — talk about a real crowd-pleaser!