Zverev glides into second round at US Open

German Alexander Zverev got his bid for a maiden major off to a smooth start by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round.

German Alexander Zverev got his bid for a maiden major off to a smooth start by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.

Querrey kept the match close through the first two sets but was stymied by unforced errors as 2020 runner-up Zverev kept his game comparatively clean and fired off 25 winners.

The world number four went in for the kill in the third set and with the fifth game secured a double-break lead with the momentum squarely in his favour, never facing a break point himself during the entire match.

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In a showdown between two six-foot-six-inch (1.98-metre) power servers, Zverev's consistency proved critical and he won 90% of his first-serve points compared to 70% for Querrey, who fended off three match points in the seventh game but was nonetheless defeated in a brisk one hour and 40 minutes.

Zverev, who was two points away from winning a year ago before Dominic Thiem rallied to victory, is among the younger cohort hoping to upset world number one Novak Djokovic's bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Zverev said Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and Russian Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the French and Australian Open finals, respectively, were two of the potential challengers to the world number one, though he was quick to remind reporters of his own win over Djokovic in the Tokyo semifinals, en route to Olympic gold.

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"I was the first person to beat him on a hard court or grass court this season, and I was also the only person to beat him at a very, very big event this year," he said.

"I hope I can keep the level up and maybe even play better, because to beat Novak here is going to be an extremely difficult task.

Other results Shapovalov eases through to U.S. Open second round Canadian Denis Shapovalov served up 14 aces to make easy work of Argentine Federico Delbonis and win 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday. The seventh seed was up a break after the fifth game in the first set and held on to the momentum, firing off 38 winners to Delbonis's 11 across the entire match and winning 90% of his first-serve points. - From Reuters Qualifier Cressy stuns US Open ninth seed Carreno Busto French-born US qualifier Maxime Cressy fired 44 aces and pulled off a first-round US Open shocker on Tuesday, beating Spanish ninth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7). - From AFP

The win extended Zverev's unbeaten streak to 12, after he walked away with the Western & Southern Open title earlier this month.

"I hope in two weeks' time I’ll be on an 18-match winning streak," he told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain or Lucas Pouille of France in the second round.