Paris, May 24 (IANS) Alexander Zverev made a confident start to his latest bid for a maiden Grand Slam title by cruising into the second round of the French Open on Sunday. The second seed delivered a composed performance on the clay courts in Paris, defeating French home favourite Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and eight minutes. Zverev controlled the match from the baseline throughout, using his powerful serve and consistent groundstrokes to keep Bonzi under pressure as he comfortably progressed to the next round at Roland Garros.

“Very good start to the tournament. It’s always nice to start with a straight-sets win, especially against Benjamin, who can cause a lot of problems to top players,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “All around, I think a good performance that I can build on. I have to build on it, but very happy with the start.”

Zverev has long enjoyed success on the Parisian clay, advancing to the 2024 final, three semi-finals and another quarter-final in his past five appearances. The German has not fallen short of the fourth round since 2017

The 29-year-old has shown similar consistency this clay-court season, making the Madrid final and semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and Munich. He also advanced to the semi-finals at hard-court ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami.

Zverev was never in trouble against Bonzi in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The Frenchman won a set against Jannik Sinner in Madrid, but was not able to upset the second seed.

The two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion faced just two break points in the match and converted five of his 10 opportunities, according to Infosys Stats.

“In five-set matches in Grand Slams, there are always going to be ups and downs, especially in the beginning of tournaments,” Zverev said. “You always have to stay focused, you always have to come back to yourself, play your best tennis. When he broke me in the second set, I broke him straight away.”

Zverev will next face Czech Tomas Machac, who eliminated Zizou Bergs 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zverev defeated Machac at this venue two years ago in the Paris Olympics.

In other early action on Day 1 of the main draw, 21st seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina rallied from to sets to one down to oust Damir Dzumhur 6-7(3), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in four hours and five minutes. The Spaniard will next take on Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, who beat Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-0.

Thirteenth seed Karen Khachanov powered to a 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-0 victory against French wild card Arthur Gea to set a meeting with Argentine Marco Trungelliti, who cruised past French qualifier Kyrian Jacquet 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

–IANS

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