Alexander Zverev has kept his winning streak alive at the Cincinnati Masters by beating Yoshito Nishioka in straight sets.
The German won the last edition of the ATP 1000 event in Cincinnati that he played, and that was actually a pretty wild result for him. He had never won a main draw singles match before that year, and when he finally did, the floodgates opened. Both of them earned wins to set up this match.
Nishioka finally won again, beating Gregoire Barrere in straight sets, and it was a much-needed win for the Japanese player. He is generally a very strong performer on North American courts but hasn't played that well recently.
Zverev smashed Grigor Dimitrov in two sets proving to still be very comfortable at the event. This one couldn't have opened any better for him, as he took an early break but he didn't hold it for the rest of the set. He got broken in the game that was supposed to be the last one of the set prolonging the set by two more games.
Evetnually Zverev did get the set but 7-5 instead of 6-4. The second one opened with both players having break chances but neither was able to get it done. Nishioka continued to attack with his nifty play giving Zverev problems keeping up.
On return, the Japanese player didn't do much outside of those early break points, even though he pushed hard in many games. The crucial moment in the second set happened at 4-4 when Nishioka ran into trouble facing break points.
He saved a few but a volley into the net gave Zverev the 5-4 lead which is what he was looking for. Zverev sensed a chance and was more aggressive than usual, which proved decisive. He then served it out for the final score of 7-5 6-4.
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