Zverev makes winning return in Toronto after short break

TORONTO — Alexander Zverev made a storming return after a month away from tennis on Tuesday, with the top seed pounding out a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Adam Walton to reach the third round of the ATP Toronto Masters.

The German top seed, who lost in the Wimbledon first round, has spent the last few weeks dealing with mental burnout, and also made a trip to Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca for consultations and, perhaps, some career advice during his time away.

The ATP world No 3 came from 4-1 down in the opening set tiebreaker and did not face a break point until he found himself down 0-40, as he tried to serve out victory leading a set and 5-3.

Though he lost that game, the German immediately broke back, with his Australian opponent double-faulting on a Zverev match point.

His victory included a massive 52-shot rally, with the triumph putting Zverev on 499 wins for his career.

"Sometimes it's just about winning," Zverev said. "It was not the prettiest match, though."

The 2017 champion in Canada will now play Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated qualifier Tristan Schoolkate 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and No 5 seed Holger Rune both eased into action with comfortable straight-set wins. The pair began after byes, and wasted little time in advancing into the third round, with Musetti hammering Australian qualifier James Duckworth 7-5, 6-1.

Rune dispatched big hitter Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (7), 6-3.

World No 8 Casper Ruud put out Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-3 for another seeded win.

The event is missing the absolute cream of the player field, with both No 1 Jannik Sinner and second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz out with injury and fatigue issues.

Musetti, a former semifinalist at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros, was ruthless with Duckworth, advancing in 82 minutes.

He broke for a set and 5-1 on his opponent's double-fault, and finished up a game later with an ace.

The Italian is coming back into form after losing his only grass match of the summer at Wimbledon and then going down last week in his opening match in Washington DC. His last victory came in early June in the Roland Garros quarters.

Musetti had 17 winners, while Duckworth was undone by more than 30 unforced errors.

The Italian next faces American Alex Michelsen, a 7-6 (7), 6-3 winner over Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Rune, who was back in action a month after a first-round Wimbledon defeat, handed France's Mpetshi Perricard a fourth career loss against top 10 players.

Denmark's four-time finalist at the Masters level produced his first hard-court win since last March at Indian Wells.

"It was a very tricky first match for me, he's a big server and (there was) not a lot of rhythm in the match," Rune said after his 75-minute win.

"I had to really take care of my own serve, and then just look for the opportunities.

"It was about finding a way to win at the end of the (first set) tiebreak.

"In the second set, I was pretty good when it mattered. I think I was serving very well today."

World No 9 Rune limited his unforced errors to just 10 — less than half of those struck by his opponent.

Elsewhere, 11th seed Karen Khachanov beat Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina 6-4, 6-2.

Last year's winner in Canada, Alexei Popyrin, defeated local wild card Nicolas Arseneault 7-6 (7), 6-3.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov continued his unlucky home streak, suffering a 7-6 (4), 7-5 loss to Learner Tien and extending a losing run at home dating back to 2019.

Tenth-seeded former champion Daniil Medvedev got through his opening match and will next face Popyrin after a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win against Czech lucky loser Dalibor Svrcina ended with more than 40 unforced errors.

AFP