VIENNA (AP) — No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev was sympathetic to Joel Schwaerzler after hammering the 18-year-old wild card in his hometown debut at the Erste Bank Open on Monday.
Zverev won by a quick 6-2, 6-2, then gave 347th-ranked Schwaerzler, competing in his second ATP Tour-level match, some encouragement when they met at the net.
“When you come to your home tournament and probably in front of the biggest crowd you’ve ever played in front of, at 18 years old and you’re playing the world number 3, it’s not the easiest thing in the world,” said Zverev. . “I went there. I did it when I was 17 in Hamburg, where I got to the semi-finals and all of a sudden I had a sold-out stadium and I was playing against a certain David Ferrer.
“The match was over half an hour later and I won a match. I know exactly how (Schwaerzler) feels. It’s not an easy situation, but he’s a wonderful player and he’s going to have a wonderful career.
Zverev’s 60th win of the year ties his best season of 2018.
In other matches, Italians Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli were also victorious.
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