Next Gen star Alexander Zverev continued his remarkably consistent season to date in the third round of the Rome Masters. The young Germany defeated home favourite Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-3 in the first match of the day in the men’s singles.
Zverev played a strong first set and managed to seal the only break from three chances. He faced no break points on his own serve, dropping just five points.
Fognini has a history of poor performances in the immediate aftermath of defeating top players. Sadly for the Italian home crowd that statistic held true. He was broken twice as Zverev surged into a four-love lead in the second set.
Fognini did breathe some brief life into the tie by retrieving one of the breaks, leading to some strong crowd support. However, despite holding game points, he was unable to hold his next service game. He was broken to end the match when a limp forehand crashed into the net.
Zverev will face the winner of the match between Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic who play later today.
Marin Cilic joins Zverev in the quarter-finals as he defeated Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-4. The Croatian former US Open champion had suffered a horrible start to the year. He lost in the second round of both American Masters and the Australian Open. A quarter-final in Monte Carlo and a title in Bucharest has got his season back on track.
Goffin won two tough matches against experienced clay players in Thomaz Bellucci and Fernando Verdasco. Last year’s ATP World Tour Finals alternate looked fatigued, and offered little resistance apart from a brief break in the second but immediately handed it back.
Cilic waits for either Stan Wawrinka or American John Isner in the second quarter-final. It has been an excellent tournament for the American contingent, with three players in the third round representing their best effort since 2002.
