Alexander Zverev beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2 7-5 in 1 hour and 35 minutes to reach the quarter finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Zverev set up a quarter final match against Jannik Sinner.
Carreno Busta earned the first break in the opening game to take a 1-0 lead. Zverev won six of his next seven games thanks to three breaks of serve to seal the first set 6-2.
Carreno Busta went up a 2-0 lead with a break at the start of the second set. Zverev converted his fifth break-back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Carreno Busta saved two break points in the 10th game to hold serve at deuce. Zverev closed out the second set 7-5 with his second break in the 12th game.
Zverev is three matches away from adding the Masters 1000 clay court title in Montecarlo to the previous trophies on this surface in Madrid and Rome.
Zverev has extended his lead to 3-0 in his three head-to-head matches against Carreno Busta, although he had to dig deep in the semifinal of the head-to-head, when he came back from two sets down to beat his Spanish rival 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3. “For the second clay-court match of the season, I can’t complain too much. I have lost focus a little bit in the second set, but at the end of the day, he is somebody than can really play. I am happy with a two-set win. It’s great because especially on clay court, especially here where it’s a little bit slower than other clay courts that we play on, it’s very important to get that confidence to get that confidence going on your serve. All around, it’s important to get these kind of wins”, said Zverev.
