Alexander Zverev wasted little time kick-starting his Erste Bank Open campaign on Monday night in Vienna.

The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings eased past home #NextGenATP wild card Joel Schwaerzler 6-2, 6-2 at the indoor hard-court ATP 500. With his 67-minute victory, Zverev equalled his personal best of 60 tour-level wins in a season from 2018.

Top seed Zverev did not face a break point in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the 18-year-old Schwaerzler. He won 96 per cent (23/24) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and generally proved too powerful for his relatively inexperienced opponent. After match point, Zverev took a moment at the net to speak with Schwaerzler, who was playing just his second ATP Tour match.

Ruthless Sascha 💪

Win No. 6⃣0⃣ in 2024 for the top seed this week in Vienna as he defeats Schwaerzler 6-2 6-2 #ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen | 📷 e|motion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Christian Hofer pic.twitter.com/AQJK8j13Jy

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 21, 2024 “When you come to your home tournament and probably the biggest crowd you have played in front of, as an 18-year-old and you’re playing the World No. 3, it’s not the easiest thing in the world," said Zverev. "I’ve been there. I did that as a 17-year-old in Hamburg, where I got to the semi-finals and all of a sudden had a sold out stadium and was playing against a certain David Ferrer.

"I was hoping to have a good match, but the match was over half an hour later and I won one game. I know exactly how [Schwaerzler] feels. It’s not an easy situation to be in, but he’s a wonderful player and he’s going to have a wonderful career. Nobody should judge him by this match.”

Zverev is chasing his second tour-level title of 2024 this week in Austria. After hitting the 60-win mark for the year, the Rome champion reasserted his desire to finish the season strongly. The German is third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and has already qualified for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

“Obviously it’s been a good year, but there have been a lot of ups and downs," said Zverev. "I had an incredible first six months of the year until Wimbledon. Then I got a little knee injury, and afterwards didn’t feel great at the Olympics. I had some lung issues, kind of like I lost my form a little bit. I wasn’t playing great in the US hard-court swing, and I’m trying to find it back. I’m trying to find my rhythm again and hopefully I can finish this season strong.”

Awaiting Zverev in the second round in Vienna will be #NextGenATP Alex Michelsen or Marcos Giron. He has never lost before the quarter-finals in three previous appearances in the Austrian capital, where he lifted the trophy in 2021.

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The in-form #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik joined Zverev in the second round with a comfortable first-round victory of his own at the Wiener Stadthalle. The 19-year-old, who reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final earlier this month in Shanghai before falling in three sets to Novak Djokovic, prevailed 7-6(3), 6-2 against the sixth-seeded Popyrin.

Mensik will take on Mariano Navone or Miomir Kecmanovic next in what his first indoor ATP Tour event. The Czech is currently fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah as he chases a debut appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

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