BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Alexander Zverev dismantled Marco Cecchinato 6-1 7-5 6-3 in under two hours on Friday to move into the French Open last 16 where he will meet Italy’s rising star Jannik Sinner.
Zverev, who did not play any claycourt events following last month’s run to the U.S. Open final, was dominant and grabbed two quick breaks to wrap up the first set after 25 minutes.
Italian Cecchinato, a surprise semi-finalist in Paris in 2018, improved his game to hold his serve as he attempted to move the sixth-seeded German around more.
Zverev’s unforced errors increased briefly and the 28-year-old Cecchinato, ranked 110th, earned his first break to serve for the set at 5-4.
But he lost his cool and slammed his racket on the ground as Zverev won the next six games in a row including wrapping up the second set.
The German had no trouble clinching the third as he finished off his opponent with his third match point after an hour and 47 minutes.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
