Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev showcased their resilience and powerful serving to claim a first-round victory at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday. The Brazilian-German duo overcame the American pair of Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow in a thrilling encounter that lasted 85 minutes, winning 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-2.
Melo and Zverev, who have teamed up occasionally this season, relied heavily on their strong serving to see them through a match that was tightly contested until the final moments. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the pair won an impressive 84 percent of points (38/45) behind their first serves, which proved crucial in both the regular sets and the Match Tie-break. After splitting the first two sets, the duo found their rhythm and dominated the Match Tie-break, racing to a 10-2 win to secure their spot in the second round.
Upcoming ATP Cincinnati Showdowns: Melo and Zverev vs. Arevalo and Pavic, and Heliovaara and Patten Take on Koolhof and Mektic
Their next opponents will be the fourth-seeded team of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic. This upcoming clash will mark the second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two teams, with Melo and Zverev having previously defeated Arevalo and Pavic in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals earlier in April.
Elsewhere in Cincinnati, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten continued their strong partnership with a straight-sets victory over wild cards Brandon Nakashima and William Woodall, winning 6-4, 6-3. The seventh-seeded pair, who have been in fine form since first teaming up in April and even captured a major title at Wimbledon, showed no signs of the setback they experienced last week in Montreal, where they were forced to retire due to a concussion. Their next challenge will come against the formidable duo of Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.
Ivan Dodig and Jamie Murray also secured an early win on Wednesday, advancing to the second round with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over singles specialists Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. The Croatian-British pair displayed their experience and chemistry, particularly in the tense moments of the second-set tie-break, to move forward in the ATP Masters 1000 event.
As the tournament progresses, these early victories set the stage for some exciting matchups in the doubles draw, with Melo and Zverev looking to build on their momentum against higher-seeded opponents, and other top teams aiming to assert their dominance on the hard courts of Cincinnati.
