Australian Open 2026, Alexander Zverev enters 2nd round: Key stats
What's the story
Men's singles world number three, Alexander Zverev, has advanced to the second round of the Australian Open for the 10th consecutive year. The German tennis star overcame a shaky start against Canada's Gabriel Diallo on Sunday. Despite dropping a set, Zverev managed to win the match with scores of 6-7 (1/7), 6-1, 6-4, and 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena. Here are further details and stats.
Match details
Zverev's journey to the 2nd round
Zverev's journey to the second round wasn't easy as he faced a tough challenge from Diallo, who is ranked 41st in the world. The Canadian player showed his potential with a maiden ATP title last year and gave Zverev a run for his money. "Definitely wasn't happy when I saw the draw," Zverev said after the match. "He's very talented and unbelievably aggressive. It was hard to find my rhythm."
Game analysis
Zverev's performance in the match
Zverev struggled against Diallo's powerful serve and was broken early in the first set. However, he managed to level the score at 4-4 after being down 1-4. The set went into a tiebreak where Diallo dominated, taking it 7-1. But Zverev came back strong in the second set, breaking Diallo twice to win it comfortably in just 31 minutes.
Match strategy
Zverev's strategy in the later sets
In the third set, Zverev broke Diallo's serve in the seventh game after the Canadian hit a forehand long from the baseline. He took control of the match as Diallo's error count increased. Another break on Diallo's first service game in set four paved Zverev's way to victory. The German tennis star will now face either Australia's Alexei Popyrin or France's Alexandre Muller in his next match.
Numbers
Here are the match stats
Zverev doled out 15 aces compared to Diallo's 10. In terms of double faults, Diallo committed five with Zverev committing one. Zverev dished out 36 winners with Diallo clocking 31. The latter also made 46 unforced errors compared to Zverev's 22. German star and third seed Zverev had an 84% win on the first serve and 58% win on the 2nd. He converted 6/8 break points.
Information
Zverev races to 32-10 win-loss record at AO
Zverev, who was a runner-up in the 2025 edition of Australian Open, has raced to a 32-10 win-loss record in Melbourne. Overall at Grand Slams, the German now owns a 114-39 win-loss record. Meanwhile, this was the first meeting between Zverev and Gabriel on the ATP Tour.
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A unique record for Zverev
As per Opta, Zverev is the first player to reach the men's singles second round at the Australian open in all of the last 10 seasons. Notably, Karen Khachanov can also achieve this feat when he opens his AO 2026 campaign against Alex Michelsen.