Zverev keeps up winning pace in Cincy

Alexander Zverev kept up his winning ways as the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters advanced to the fourth round over France’s Terrance Atmane 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) on Monday.

The German who won Roland Garros and  lost to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final stretched his leading ATP season total of match wins to 46 as he beat a 2025 semi-finalist.

“This was a step up from my first match,” Zverev said of a previous encounter which ended at 2 a.m. last weekend.

“He was playing incredibly aggressively, hitting forehands all over the court.
“I’m happy to be through in straight sets. He made it difficult for you to play aggressive yourself.”

Fifth seed Alex de Minaur dealt with three rain interruptions but held his nerve for a win over British Wimbledon semi-finalist Arthur Fery 7-5, 7-6 (3).

De Minaur went to the locker room as the match was halted leading a set and 5-1 but needed all of his fighting spirit to pull off the win as Fery won six straght  game before being halted 

De Minaur overcame 29 unforced errors and got the win after two and a half hours.

“You never want to go into a rain delay leading 5-1,” the Aussie said. “It was a tough day with all the interruptions.

“I can’t remember a match that started and stopped so many times. I’m happy with how I found a way. But it was harder at the end than it should have been.”

The event lost Joao Fonseca, with the Brazilian pulling out before his Tuesday third-round match against Chris O’Connell due to a recurrence of an abdominal injury.

Spanish teen Rafael Jodar dominated Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-2, 6-1 and got the job done with a single unforced error.foraa 36th season win.

Argentine Thiago Tirante, who ousted Novak Djokovic in the second round, defeated Spain’s Martin Landaluce 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4).