Alexander Zverev was made to work for a winning return to clay Tuesday at the Nordea Open in Bastad. The fifth-seeded German held his nerve for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 first-round triumph against Alex Molcan at the clay-court ATP 250.
Competing on clay for the first time since his run to the Roland Garros semi-finals in June, Zverev stayed alert to fend off a Molcan comeback in the deciding set of the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The 19-time tour-level titlist Zverev, who defeated Molcan in straight sets in the second round of his Roland Garros run, failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in Bastad but notched a decisive break in the 12th game to wrap a two-hour, 25-minute victory.
“Obviously it’s the first clay-court match back after the grass-court season and it’s never easy,” said Zverev. “He’s an opponent that plays extremely well and at the end of the day I’m happy to be through to the second round. That’s the most important thing.”
Now 27-17 for the year, Zverev will take on Thiago Monteiro next as he chases his first ATP Tour crown since returning to action at the start of the year after a long-term ankle injury. The 26-year-old Zverev reached the semi-finals on his only previous appearance in 2015 in Bastad, where this year he arrived off the back a 5-2 grass-court season.
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Zverev’s fellow seeds Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sebastian Baez could not join the German in the second round. Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik upset seventh seed Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-4, while Federico Coria downed eighth seed Baez, a finalist in Bastad last year, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5).
Coria’s second-round opponent will be home wild card Leo Borg, the 20-year-old son of ATP Tour legend Bjorn Borg. Competing in his third ATP Tour match, Borg notched his first win at that level by downing his fellow Swede Elias Ymer 7-6(5), 6-3 after saving two of the three break points he faced.
Top seed and 2021 Bastad champion Casper Ruud will face Alexander Shevchenko in his opening match after the World No. 96 beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3. The 22-year-old Shevchenko has delivered strong performances on the clay already this season, reaching the third round as a qualifier at the ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome.
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