Wimbledon: Zverev storms into fourth round, eyes maiden quarter-final berth

London, July 4 (IANS) Second seed Alexander Zverev continued his impressive Wimbledon campaign with a commanding straight-sets victory over Marcos Giron, defeating the American 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Saturday to reach the fourth round at the All England Club for the fourth time in his career.

Fresh from winning his long-awaited first Grand Slam title at the French Open, the German arrived at Wimbledon full of confidence, even though he admitted that grass is his least-favored surface. He has never made it past the fourth round at SW19, but his recent performance suggested he might finally be ready to break through.

Zverev controlled the opening set with strong serving before Giron stepped up his game in the second. The American didn’t face any break points and forced a tie-break. Zverev remained composed, saving the two break points he faced and performing well in the tie-break to come within one set of victory.

The German broke early in the third set, taking the second game. Although Giron broke back at 4-2, Zverev responded right away by reclaiming the lead and served out the match after two hours and 34 minutes.

“He (Giron) plays fantastic on grass, and he shows it every time he steps on the surface,” Zverev said after the match. “He has won tour-level events on grass. I knew I had to be ready from the first point onwards, and I am very happy to move on in straight sets.”

The 29-year-old delivered another strong performance behind his serve, hitting 17 aces and winning 77 percent (54/70) of his first-serve points. Even though Giron consistently applied pressure, Zverev improved his perfect record against the American to 5-0, having won 13 of the 14 sets they have played.

The victory also placed Zverev among elite German players. He became only the third German man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon Round of 16 at least four times. He joins three-time champion Boris Becker, who accomplished this 12 times, and 1991 champion Michael Stich, who reached the last 16 five times.

By matching his best Wimbledon result again, Zverev is now just one win away from his first quarter-final appearance at this grass-court major. Wimbledon is still the only Grand Slam where he has not progressed beyond the fourth round, despite having reached finals at the other three majors.

Standing between Zverev and that long-awaited breakthrough is 13th seed Jiri Lehecka, who advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Jaume Munar earlier on Saturday.

–IANS

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