Zverev advances at Paris Olympics; Fritz, Felix earn wins

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev continued his quest at this year's Paris Olympics on Tuesday when he moved past Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round.

In hot conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier, the German won 88 per cent (14/16) of his first-serve points in the first set and then rallied from a break down in the second set to advance after one hour and 35 minutes.

Zverev, who struck 24 winners, won the gold medal in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, beating Novak Djokovic en route. The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face Alexei Popyrin after the Australian beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5.

In other action, American Taylor Fritz moved past Briton Jack Draper 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round. The seventh seed, who fired 16 aces and saved all nine break points he faced, is making his Olympics debut.

Fritz will next face Lorenzo Musetti after the Italian beat Argentine Mariano Navone 7-6(2), 6-3. Musetti arrived in Paris in good form, having advanced to his first major semi-final at Wimbledon and the title match at the ATP 250 clay-court event in Umag.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime wasted little time advancing, defeating German Maximilian Marterer 6-0, 6-1 in 64 minutes. Auger-Aliassime will next face Daniil Medvedev or Austrian Sebastian Ofner.

American Tommy Paul moved past Czech Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round. He will play Corentin Moutet after the Frenchman received a walkover from Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.

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