London, July 1 (IANS) French Open champion Alexander Zverev did not have things all his own way at Wimbledon on Tuesday and had to battle past Belgian Alexander Blockx to reach the second round at the All-England Club in London. In a tussle on Centre Court, the second-seeded German overcame the Wimbledon debutant 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 7-6(0).
This was the third time this season that Zverev had faced Blockx, and the match followed the same script, a bit of a struggle before the German moved on.
Zverev, who ended his long wait for major glory earlier this month at Roland Garros to become the first German man to win a Slam since Boris Becker at the Australian Open in 1996, will now aim to back up his Paris run on the lawns in south west London, where he has never been beyond the fourth round.
The 29-year-old Zverev (21) and Blockx (16) fired down a combined 37 aces in a serve-dominated clash, with just three breaks of serve across the four sets. However, as is so often the case, Zverev was tough in the big moments, outlasting Blockx in several attritional baseline rallies to extend his winning streak at majors to eight.
Zverev now leads Blockx 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having also defeated the 21-year-old at ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome this year. The pair shared a warm embrace following their latest three-hour meeting at Wimbledon.
Zverev could rise to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings with a final run this fortnight, but will next focus on facing Valentin Royer in the second round. The Frenchman defeated British wild card Harry Wendelken 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Blockx is competing at a career-high No. 36 this week following a standout breakthrough season. The 21-year-old reached the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals last December.
Mensik ousts home hope Samuel in five-set tussle.
Jakub Mensik brought his penchant for five-set victories to the Grand Slam stage once again on Tuesday evening, ousting home hope Toby Samuel 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) in a four-hour, 21-minute first-round battle on the No. 3 Court at Wimbledon.
The 15th-seeded Czech won five of the final six points of the match to seal a Match Tie-break victory against the surging Samuel, who last week reached his first ATP Tour semifinal at the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
The 20-year-old Mensik has now won four matches in five sets in 2026, starting with his defeat of Pablo Carreno Busta at January’s Australian Open. At Roland Garros in May, the Czech had to be pushed off court in a wheelchair after defeating Mariano Navone in a four-hour, 41-minute second-round clash played out in sweltering Paris conditions. Despite that physical toll, Mensik also outlasted Andrey Rublev in a five-set fourth-round match en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Mensik will now attempt to back up his marathon win on the Wimbledon grass in a second-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov or qualifier Dane Sweeny. The two-time ATP Tour titlist Mensik is bidding to reach the third round at the grass major for the second consecutive year.
–IANS
bsk/
