Alexander Zverev is back in the fourth round at the Australian Open after beating 36-year-old Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
Alexander Zverev is back in the fourth round at the Australian Open after beating 36-year-old Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, and it means another $10,000 to the bush fire relief effort in Australia.
The 22-year-old German player has pledged $10,000 for every match win at the Australian Open, and his entire prize money if he wins the title at Melbourne Park this year. His best run at a major to date is to the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The seventh-seeded Zverev won the last four games after going down a break in the third set against Verdasco, who was contesting his 67th consecutive Grand Slam tournament -- the second-longest streak for men behind Feliciano Lopez (72).
Verdasco's best run at a major was to the semifinals in 2009, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the second-longest match in Australian Open history that lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.
Andrey Rublev is on quite a streak at the moment: 11-0 in 2020, 15 wins in a row dating to the Davis Cup at the end of last year.
Plus, there's this: The 22-year-old Russian is into the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time after a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 11 David Goffin on Saturday.
“To be honest, I was not even thinking about it — how many matches I win, how many matches I lose," said Rublev, who is seeded 17th. "It's more in the media: They start to say, like, ‘You win 10 (consecutive) matches.' Then you start to think, ‘Wow, I won 10 matches.’”
Given, though, that tennis is a sport where everyone loses except one player in each tournament, he added, “Of course, it's amazing that I win that many matches in a row.”
Rublev will try to make it a sweet 16 in the round of 16 on Monday when he plays No. 7 Zverev
