Wimbledon: Alexander Zverev powers into second round with easy win

Germany`s Alexander Zverev returns to Netherland`s Tallon Griekspoor during their men`s singles first round match on the second day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Pic/AFP

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany began his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title with an easy 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor at the Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old slammed 20 aces and won 77 per cent of his first-service points to progress into the second round in 94 minutes.

In the French Open semi-finals this month, Zverev had lost to Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost his first-round match to American Frances Tiafoe on Monday.

Zverev will next face the winner of the match between Slovakia's Norbert Gombos and American Tennys Sandgren. The German's best performance at Wimbledon has been a fourth-round finish in 2017.

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After Zverev faced an early scare against the Dutchman, fending off two break points in the opening game, the German played explosive tennis from the baseline to power into a 5-1 lead. Though his Dutch opponent made it 3-5, Zverev closed out on serve, hitting 12 winners in the first set.

Griekspoor found it hard to control his groundstrokes once the roof was closed, frequently firing his forehand long and committing 10 unforced errors in the second set.

The 24-year-old Greikspoor, ranked 124th in the world, was making his Wimbledon debut after coming through the qualifiers.

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