In a battle of ATP Rising Stars, Alexander Zverev took on fellow teenager Yoshihito Nishioka in the opening round of the Citi Open. The German, who is the youngest player in ATP’s top 100 at 18 years old, defeated the the 19-year-old Japan native in two tight sets, 7-6(1), 6-3.
The German is looking to rebound with a strong showing this week after an early exit in Hamburg cost him plenty of ranking points he was unable to defend by making the semifinals last year.
Zverev races out to an early lead
Both men started off with easy holds in the first ever meeting between these two future stars of the game. However in the third game, it was the German who took advantage of some wobbles by the Japanese number five.
The 19-year-old saved two break points before getting a chance to level the score at two-all. He was unable to convert it though as Zverev got the break on his third opportunity.
Nishioka levels the score, but the German dominates the breaker
The German consolidated the break by holding at 30 in his next service game. That was the first of four straight holds between the two before the Japanese number five made his mark. He broke at love in the eighth game to level the score and would head into a tiebreaker.
Nishioka would start the breaker off quickly with a mini-break but conceded it right back. Zverev would win seven consecutive points after dropping the first one to take the opening set 7-6(1).
A tight second set captured by Zverev to take the match
Unlike the first set, both players got into a rhythm on their serve and weren’t really challenged up until the sixth game on Nishioka’s serve. In this game, he fell down to 15-40 and was forced to save both of them as he strung together four strong points in a row to hold off Zverev.
In the following service game, the German fell to deuce but did not have to save any break points in the process.
The sixth game was a prelude to the eighth with Zverev capturing the break on his lone opportunity. The German teen did not make his service game for the match so straightforward however.
He had to save a break point down 30-40 before he finished it off. Zverev takes on fifth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson in the second round. Anderson received a bye into the second round as one of the top 16 seeds.