Zverev wins two tiebreaks to advance at Cincinnati Masters
German tennis player Alexander Zverev beat Frenchman Terence Atmane in two tiebreak sets to reach the next round of the Cincinnati Masters. Several other top seeds also advanced, while Montreal champion Ben Shelton was eliminated in his opening match.
World number three Alexander Zverev secured a 7:6, 7:6 victory over France's Terence Atmane in an overnight match, sending the German through to the next round of the Cincinnati Masters. Atmane, who has previously reached as high as 45th in the rankings, faced Zverev as a clear underdog — bookmakers had set odds of 1.15 on a German win.
Zverev had to fight back from an early 0:3 deficit in the first set, with both sets ultimately decided by tight tiebreaks. He won the first tiebreak 7:4 after leading 5:2, then closed out the second 8:6.
Match statistics showed Atmane winning more points on his second serve (71% to Zverev's 60%), but Zverev dominated on first serve (85% to 76%) and won more total points overall (79:73). Each player converted one of two break-point chances. Zverev held the edge in aces-to-double-faults (5-3 versus 1-2) and also outperformed his opponent in winners versus unforced errors (27-25 compared to 22-16).
This marked the pair's second career meeting, with Zverev now leading 2-0 in their head-to-head. The German is competing in Cincinnati for the 11th consecutive year, and his best result at the event remains the title he won in 2021.
Other third-round results
Australia's Alex de Minaur, Italy's Flavio Cobolli and Spain's Rafael Nadal — wait, Spain's Rafael... — advanced to the next round as well, alongside Spaniard Rafael Jodar. Meanwhile, Ben Shelton, fresh off winning the Montreal Masters title, was eliminated in his tournament opener, losing 4:6, 4:6 to Portugal's Jaime Faria.
