LONDON (Reuters) – Germany’s Alexander Zverev fired 20 aces past Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer to move into the Wimbledon second round with a hard-earned 6-4 7-6(4) 7-6(5) win on Thursday.
The 19th seed did not have an easy tournament start against the world number 153, whose own first serve percentage matched that of Zverev, and with the German getting just two break opportunities in total in the first two sets.
He did snatch a break at 3-3 in the first set before serving it out and both players held serve until left-hander Brouwer carved out two set points at 6-5.
Zverev, a former world number two looking to hit top form again after an ankle injury derailed his 2022 season, saved them both to force a tiebreak, winning it with another booming ace.
Both players comfortably held serve in the third to take it to another tiebreak and Zverev fired down his 20th ace to seal victory on his third match point.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
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