No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev needed just 73 minutes to blow past Gabriel Diallo of Canada 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the BMW Open on Thursday in Munich.
The German was dominant throughout, converting 5 of 8 break-point opportunities while facing just one on his serve, winning 66.7% of his second-return points. Up next on his path to a repeat title in Munich is a clash with No. 5 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who thrashed Dutch competitor Botic van de Zandschulp, 6-3, 6-0. While Zverev is 4-3 all-time vs. Cerundolo, he’s 0-3 against him in clay-court matches.
Also in Thursday action, Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan continued his run with a 6-4, 7-6 (10) defeat of Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, and Denis Shapovalov of Canada swept Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia ran away with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in Barcelona, breaking a tie with Marin Cilic for the most ATP 500 quarterfinal appearances since 2009.
Zverev’s win in Munich helped both competitors advance to their 33rd quarterfinal at the 500 level. Rublev was broken in his first service match of the game but staved off the four break-point chances after that, coming away with five breaks on Sonego’s serve. He’ll next face Czech Tomas Machac, who advanced via walkover over Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew with a wrist injury.
In another quarterfinal, No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy will face French No. 9 seed Arthur Fils after each won in straight sets Thursday. Musetti beat France’s Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-4, and Fils rolled past Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
