TORONTO — Top-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Adam Walton 7-6 (6), 6-4 at the National Bank Open on Tuesday night in his first match since Wimbledon.
Zverev is trying to get back on track after reaching the Australian Open final in a strong start to the season. He was upset by Arthur Rinderknech in the first round at Wimbledon, saying afterward he was struggling mentally.
"I’m trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way,” Zverev said.
The German is ranked third but seeded No. 1 in this tournament that he won in 2017 after the withdrawals of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev won a 52-shot rally in the tiebreaker to earn a set point.
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“It was a very important moment and a very important point for me,” Zverev said. “I was lucky to get through in the first set and then finish it off in two.”
Third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti beat Australian qualifier James Duckworth 7-5, 6-1, while No. 5 Holger Rune was a 7-6 (7), 6-3 winner over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on a hot, sunny afternoon.
All seeded players had a first-round bye in the Masters 1000 tournament that also saw No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic withdraw.
No. 8 seed Casper Ruud, No. 10 Daniil Medvedev, No. 11 Karen Khachanov, No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo and No. 18 Alexei Popyrin, the defending champion, were among the other winners. Reilly Opelka upset 16th-seeded Tomas Machac in three sets.
