Melo/Zverev find late surge to victory in Cincinnati

Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev rode a big serving performance to first-round victory on Wednesday at the Cincinnati Open.

The Brazilian-German duo edged home favourites Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-2 in a hard-fought 85-minute encounter at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Ohio. Melo and Zverev dominated the Match Tie-break to complete victory after winning 84 per cent (38/45) of points behind their first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic will be Melo and Zverev’s second-round opponents. The clash will be the second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two teams, after Melo and Zverev’s triumph in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals in April.

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten have won three tour-level titles together, including a major title at Wimbledon, since first teaming in April. The seventh-seeded pair was forced to retire with concussion last week in Montreal after clashing heads going for a smash, but it was quickly back to winning ways in Cincinnati, where it defeated wild cards Brandon Nakashima and William Woodall 6-4, 6-3. Heliovaara and Patten will next take on Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.

Ivan Dodig and Jamie Murray were also early winners on Wednesday at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre. The Croatian-British pair booked its second-round spot with a 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph against singles stars Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.