Alexander Zverev strolled into the Australian Open third round for the fourth successive season with a 7-6(5) 6-4 7-5 victory over Egor Gerasimov at Rod Laver Arena.
The seventh seed had never lost to a player ranked as low as the world No.98 Belarusian and compiled an impressive serving display to help dictate play.
Zverev, the boys' champion at Melbourne Park in 2014, has booked an encounter with No.26 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili or 2009 semifinalist Fernando Verdasco.
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“It was definitely much better than the ATP Cup,” said the German youngster with a smile, referring to his three disheartening defeats at the beginning of 2020.
“Into the third round again, so I’m very happy about that. It’s always amazing to come back to this court, to come back to Australia, I really love it here.”
Zverev identified his gruelling practice schedule in Melbourne for providing the platform for his improving form.
“The last week or so here practising we were spending six to seven hours on court, doing all sorts of things to find my game, my serve, my groundstrokes, everything that hasn’t been working too well. I’m into the third round, I haven’t dropped a set yet, hopefully that can continue," he said.
Gerasimov was chasing a first career win over a top-10 opponent and got off to a positive start. The 27-year-old was eager to canvass the net and surged forward frequently. His progressive play enabled him to fend off six break points en route to an opening tiebreak.
On the other side of the net, Zverev was relishing in a clean serving display, having been blighted by double faults at the ATP Cup. Into the first set tiebreak he rallied Gerasimov into submission at 5-5 to clinch the crucial points.
No double faults and 13 winners, it was pretty clean from the seventh seed.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Zverev and Gerasimov both stubborn not to surrender serve.
Another brace of break points dissolved for Zverev, a backhand pass just missed bullseye down the line, prompting the 22-year-old to crouch to the floor in disbelief.
Finally, at 5-4 up, after motoring through his service games, Zverev drew the errors from the Belarusian to soar towards a two-set cushion.
Still no signs of fragility on delivery with no double faults and another 13 winners. It was solid from Zverev, strengthening his grip by capitalising upon a loose game from his beleaguered opponent to lead 3-1 in the third set.
The world No.7 suffered a blip, broken to love whilst serving for the match at 5-3, but found the right combination of shots in the 12th game to progress to the last 32.
“He (Gerasimov) must have been pretty motivated, a first time on Rod Laver Arena, so it was always going to be a very difficult match,” assessed Zverev, content to contain his opponent’s threats.
“He’s been playing unbelievable tennis the last 12 months, getting his ranking up very quickly. So I think he’ll rise up to top 50, top 30 very quickly. It was a good match in the end.”